


Family Bonds

by aminal24



Series: Family [3]
Category: Graceland (TV)
Genre: Assassins & Hitmen, Complicated Relationships, Drug Addiction, F/M, Season/Series 03, Undercover, follows most plots lines
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:34:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 88,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26447878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aminal24/pseuds/aminal24
Summary: Jenny is not left with a lot of options. She is desperate for justice. Too many things have gone wrong. But when she gets tied up with the wrong kind of people, can her housemates pull her out of it? Can she cope with what happened with Mike? How will it affect her relationship with her brother?
Relationships: Mike Warren/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Family [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1885822
Comments: 15
Kudos: 11





	1. Hesitate

**Author's Note:**

> This is the third and last part of the Family trilogy. This has been a really fun project for me to work and I appreciate your readership!

“I’m sorry, I’m not normally so nervous.” Jenny tucked her hair behind her ear and tried to contain her butterflies.

“You don’t have to apologize,” Trevor assured her. He was a handsome man, chiseled facial features, black hair and brown eyes. The t-shirt he wore looked like it just barely fit him, tightly hugging his torso and arms. It was somewhat distracting, if Jenny was being honest. “I completely understand.”

Jenny played with the coffee cup sitting on the table in front of her. She glanced around the nearly empty outdoor patio space of a local coffee shop. Well, local wasn’t exactly right. They had agreed to meet in a neighboring town, so her housemates wouldn’t catch them. No one would approve of what she was doing, least of all, her brother Paul. “It’s just that… I have never done this before.”

“Well, I have to admit, you were rather intriguing.” He flashed a charming smile her way. “It’s not everyday I meet an FBI agent.”

“I’m really more of a technical analyst. A freelancer.” She tried to say humbly.

“So what does a freelancing technical analyst want from a guy like me?” He questioned smugly, almost knowing the answer.

Jenny licked her lips and sighed. “I’ve read up on you. You have a pretty impressive reputation, I must say.” When he gave her a surprised look, she shrugged. “Look, I wasn’t about to meet with someone who I don’t know anything about.”

“Well, then impress me.” He gestured for her to share the information she had gathered. “What did you find out?”

She took a deep breath before speaking. “Your name is Trevor Langley, born and raised in Scottsdale, Arizona. Parents, William and Helen, were middle class. Your dad was a bank teller and your mom was a social worker. No brothers or sisters, but you did have a best friend who lived down the block from you named Elvis, and even though I thought that was a fake name, it turned out that he is one-hundred percent a real person named Elvis. His parents were big rock 'n roll enthusiasts apparently. You and Elvis went to the same private school, both on scholarships, and both having a proclivity for stirring the pot. Minor B and B’s, some petty theft, even some vandalism, but the real juiciness didn’t start until late high school. You got involved in a fight club and took it very seriously, which ultimately lead to you getting kicked out of your cushy school due to the constant fights you were trying to start. But the need to be bad didn’t stop there, you and Elvis eventually finding a dirty enough crew to run with. As an initiation into the crew, however, you were forced to fight each other, in which you killed your best friend. And the worst part about that… is that you liked it. All this leads up to the man you are today. A hitman.”

Trevor didn’t have to fake how impressed he was. He liked to think that he was a private person who kept things hidden from most of the world, but she was able to name off most of his life as if she had memorized the biography he had never wrote. “You got all that from a computer screen?”

She shrugged. “Most of it, yeah. There were some gaps I had to fill myself. So have I dazzled you yet?” Her smile was wide and bragging.

“Indeed, you have. And I don’t like to admit that to a lot of people.” Trevor took a sip from his coffee cup. “So again, I have to ask: What do you need me for?”

Hesitation, something she was all too familiar with now. She was hesitant when she found her way to a less than noble website, advertising all sorts of illegal services. She was hesitant when she stumbled upon Trevor’s name and the evil deeds he did for hire. She was hesitant to meet with him at all. Paul’s disapproving look and scowl was at the forefront of her mind. Only next to Mike’s. But this was something she needed to do. For Mike.

“10 days ago, a man nearly killed someone I love.” She stated bluntly, trying to steel her emotions as she spoke. “This man is a dirty and crooked cop, who has made many slimy and shady deals with gangsters and heads of Mexican drug cartels. Even sex traffickers. We got close enough to trap him, but he lashed out in a violent way. He tried to kill a federal agent in a public hospital in the middle of the day. Ever since then, he’s been hiding in plain sight, knowing that we have no concrete evidence to put him behind bars. I have tried everything in my power to nail this guy. To make him pay for what he did to me and those that I care about. But even with all my genius and superpowers, I can't touch him. I have run out of options and patience.” Her hazel eyes locked onto his. “I want you to kill Sid Markham.”

>>>

“How about Sophia?” Charlie asked. Her and Jenny were sitting in the kitchen at Graceland, Jenny having just returned from her secret coffee date with a hitman. Charlie was trying to come up with baby names for her and Paul’s baby. Jenny welcomed the distraction from all guilt and sneakiness she felt.

Jenny grimaced at the name. “I knew a Sophia in high school. She was a real stuck up bitch.”

“But it sounds pretty, right? Sophia DeMarco.” Charlie absentmindedly rubbed her belly. She was only about a month into her pregnancy, so she wasn’t showing yet. But she could feel it growing. Her and Paul had decided to call off their relationship. It was hard to come back from when she discovered the Juan Badillo tape and catching him in several lies. He hadn't contested against it, but he was secretly excited for the baby. Well, excited and extremely nervous.

“But what if it’s a boy?” Jenny pointed out.

“Ah, don’t get me started on boy names.” She rolled her eyes. “Why are there a million good choices for girl names? But no good options for boys?”

“Because they are no good boys in the world?”

“I would like to argue that.” Dale Jakes entered the room, his eyes scanning the messy state of Graceland. Wrappers, old food, dirty dishes were everywhere. It looked like the aftermath of a college rager. “When did we just decide to stop cleaning?”

“We’ve been a little busy, Dale.” Jenny waved a dismissive hand. “Chore wheel doesn’t exactly sit at the top of our priority list.” 

“Not me.” He argued, as he started to pick up the trash on the counter. “Bathroom’s spotless. And not when Johnny sprays Scrubbing Bubbles and says it’s spotless.”

“Dale, I’m tired.” Charlie stated. "We appreciate your tidiness, but I got too much on my plate right now."

Jenny pointed towards him and raised a teasing eyebrow at Charlie. “Dale DeMarco?”

“Do not name your baby after me.” Jakes shook his head. “I do not want that responsibility on my head. Not that any of you slackers know anything about responsibility.”

“Can we please save the lecture until after lunch?” Charlie asked him.

“What’s he bitching about now?” Johnny groaned, as he and Paul came into the kitchen, having just returned from meeting with Sid, the evil man himself.

“I’m bitchin’ because it looks like Tijuana up in here.” Jakes argued, gesturing towards the state of the mess.

“How’d it go?” Charlie asked Paul.

“It didn’t.” He sighed defeatedly.

“What, you mean he didn’t show?” Jenny questioned, thinking he might have ran away.

“No, he did.” Johnny hung his head as he spoke. “It’s been two weeks and Sid ain’t talking about the deal he’s got with the Solanos. He ain’t talking about the bloodbath in Tecate. And he sure as shit ain’t talking about murdering Mike.” Jenny felt the anger leak out of her ears like steam. Sid had been the one to shoot his entire team and frame Mike for it. Sid made Mike go into hiding from the Bureau and he was the reason for him flatlining. It was infuriating that they couldn’t prove any of it.

“Yeah, well, Sid knows we got nothing on him.” Paul sat down next to Charlie. “He keeps playing the saintly cop, so he can walk on all the murders.”

“Can’t we just a bullet in this dude?” Johnny asked the room.

Jenny let out a frustrated chuckle. “That is literally what I have been saying for 10 days now. Please, can we just pop a cap in his ass and be done with it?”

“As much as I appreciate and understand your itchy trigger finger, sis,” Paul told her. “We’ve talked about this at great length. We’re all too hot to pull off a homicide.”

“And that means we’d be no better than that scumbag.” Charlie rested a hand on her shoulder, trying to give her some comfort. “We’re supposed to be the good guys.” Jenny was glad she had already talked with Trevor. Having a seasoned criminal pull off the murder could work in everyone’s favor.

“Shit’s just frustrating.” Johnny kicked at the ground.

“Sure is.” Dale grabbed the chore wheel off the wall and looked it over. “How about a distraction? Briggs, you got windows.”

“Those windows look clean from here.” Paul argued.

“Charlie,” Jakes went on ignoring him. “You got living room. Jenny, you got dusting.”

“Hey, I dusted the DVD player, thank you.” She objected.

“I am not going to explain the definition of dusting to a self-proclaimed genius.” He retorted. “And John-boy, it’s your lucky day. You’re already here. You get the kitchen.”

Johnny shook his head. “Nah, bro. I don’t have the energy for that.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t really have the energy to be your wet nurse, but then how come my titties are always sore?”

“Sid is trying to kill us.” Johnny pushed. “You realize that we are dealing with actual real-life shit and you’re on about some chore wheel?”

“Yeah, the fact that we’re dealing with the real-life shit out there is precisely why we need to keep it clean in here. Can you follow that line of logic?” It was clear that Jakes wasn’t going to budge on this subject, as everyone was slowly coming to realize. Johnny slowly slunk upstairs ready to disappear into his room.

“Warren was on laundry, so I guess that means I’ll pick up his slack.” Dale muttered looking at the chore wheel again.

“Slack?” Jenny questioned aggressively. Everyone in the room had a shiver run up their spine by the amount of anger and spite in her tone. “Is that what we’re calling it?”

Dale held up a hand as he conceded. “I’m sorry. I meant that I will cover for him. Because I am going to assume that none of y’all are going to help?”

“Screw you, Dale.” Jenny spat at him before finally taking off. She had to make a trip to the hospital anyway.

>>>

“Want me to send you flying?” Jenny teased as she pushed the wheelchair in front of her.

Mike grinned, settling into the wheelchair. He was feeling pretty good for a guy who was legally dead for about 6 minutes a couple weeks ago. Walking was still a struggle, but the lead poisoning from the bullet wound he got from Tecate was nearly gone. They were just coming from putting him through a cat scan, all signs looking like he was making a great recovery. “I don’t think I’m up for that yet. Unless you got some pixie dust hidden on your person.”

“Rats, I knew I was forgetting something.” She joked. The feeling of absolute relief that Mike was alive still lingered. She remembered the day when she had discovered him lifeless in the hospital bed so clearly. A day she thought she would dread forever, but a few minutes later, be given the good news that they had successfully revived him. She had spent most of her days by his side ever since, not wanting to take a moment for granted like she did before.

As they rounded the corner, they saw Paul standing just outside Mike’s hospital room, holding a newspaper in his hand. Briggs smiled when he saw Jenny wheeling Mike towards him, also feeling grateful the man didn’t die. “There he is, the comeback kid.” Paul greeted warmly. “How you feeling, Mikey?”

“Could be worse.” He shrugged, earning a gentle slap on the shoulder from Jenny.

“He’s doing just fine, according to the doctors.” She informed him. “They’re hoping he can be released in a matter of days.”

“Well, consider this an early present then.” Paul handed Mike the newspaper in his hand and pointing to one of the articles on the front page. Mike and Jenny looked closely at the headline that read “Unnamed FBI Agent Dies in Hospital”. Jenny knew it was a good thing. In order to protect Mike from Sid, they had to make it appear as though Mike had in fact died. But it still gave her a cold chill, thinking about how that headline could have been real.

“Jesus.” Mike gasped.

“Yep, until we find Sid,” Briggs shoved his hands in his pockets. “You, my friend, are dead agent with no name.”

Jenny pushed him into the room, as Paul followed, not really sure how she felt about that news. “How’s Paige feeling?” Mike asked. Jenny bit her tongue in anger. She had not spoken to Paige since the day she admitted that she gave Mike’s name up to Sid. It was part of the reason why she stayed in the hospital for so long, so she didn’t have to face her. Jenny knew that the second they spoke, she would lash out at her for nearly killing Mike.

“She’s a little banged up.” Paul replied, noting Jenny’s change in demeanor. Paige had just been in a hit and run, with a masked figure on a motorcycle. She wasn’t hurt or injured too badly. Jenny secretly thought that it was what she deserved after what she did. “But you know, she’ll mend.”

“You sure it was Sid?” Mike asked, having been informed of what happened by a phone call with Charlie.

“Yeah, pretty sure.” Briggs nodded. “Apparently, it was one of Sid’s old C.I.s” Jenny started to help Mike up out of the wheelchair in order to place him in the hospital bed. “You know, Mike… the roommates are starting wonder why he went after Paige. I don’t know, man. I think it’s time that we tell them and the Bureau that she gave you up.”

“No,” He grunted, partly due to him trying to stand and also to emphasize his point. “Don’t tell anyone. Either of you, okay?” Mike looked to both of the Briggs’, as they appeared to show their hesitation. Neither one of them were happy with Paige and her decision, but wanted to honor Mike’s wishes.

Jenny’s mouth formed a thin white line. “Let’s just get you into bed.”

“No, please.” Mike now was standing on his own two feet, grabbing tightly onto Jenny’s arms. “Promise me. We’ve all made mistakes.”

“Wow,” Paul remarked. “Sounds like you owe someone on the other side, huh?”

“I’ve just come to realize what’s important, I guess.” Mike shrugged. Jenny led him over to the bed, slowly helping him onto it.

While they moved, Paul caught sight of a notebook sitting on a tray by the bed. Because Mike’s back was turned to him, and his curiosity getting the better of him, Paul opened it to see what was inside. He was surprised to find a whole bunch of drawings and random writings all over it. Doodles of birds, and clocks, and the number 47 appearing on almost every page. Notes had been scrawled around the doodles, most of the words being nearly illegible. It was very cryptic, but Paul quickly closed the notebook when Mike was finally settled into his bed.

“There you go,” Jenny said, tucking him in gently. “All cozy and snug.” She gently stroked his unshaven face and pushed the now long blonde hair out of his face. It was unusual to see him looking so shaggy looking. But Jenny was too focused on getting him better. “You need anything?”

“I could kill for some Jello.” He gave her a knowing look.

Jenny rolled her eyes and looked back at her brother. “This man has been eating almost nothing but Jello for two weeks now. And he’s going to become Jello, if he’s not careful.” She gently patted his torso for emphasis.

“I'm wounded. Don’t I deserve it?” He gave a mocking pleading look.

I love those damn puppy eyes. “I think you are just getting too used to me waiting on you hand and foot. Which will not last very long, mind you.” Jenny slowly stood up. “What kind should I ask for?”

“Surprise me.” Mike gave a victorious look.

“Fine.” Brushing some of his hair off to the side, she placed a kiss on his forehead. “I will be right back.” She skipped towards the door before winking at the two of them. “No flirting, you two.”

“Hm,” Paul chuckled once she had finally left. “You got yourself a real Florence Nightingale.”

Mike grinned to show his contentment. With all the craziness he had been through over the past couple of weeks, she had been like his guiding light. “Yeah, she’s been great.” He turned his head so he could face Paul better. “But I never thanked you for being there that day.”

“I wasn’t, really.” Briggs shrugged humbly. “Jenny was the one who kept lighting the match under the nurses, in every way possible. Then it was defibrillators and such.”

“Still, thank you.” Mike insisted. “I’m grateful to you both.”

It was unusual to see him so zen, especially since only three weeks ago, he was so obsessed with getting Sid. Now, he seemed content and unworried. Sid’s name hadn’t even been brought up until Paul had. Ever since being revived, he had been this way. Curiosity got the better of him. “So, uh, the Tibetans have a term. It’s called Bardo. It’s the state between this life and your next re-birth. Sometimes, it’s peaceful. Sometimes, it’s disturbing. But you were there, Mike. I gotta ask. Is there any enlightenment?”

Mike sighed. “There was a bright light and harp music.” He gave Briggs a teasing glance, letting him know that he was kidding. “My grandfather was there, dressed in white, beckoning me with an ice cream cone.”

“Right,” Briggs chuckled. When Mike chuckled too, a searing pain shot through him. He squinted his eyes closed and grunted loudly. “Okay, Mike, just breathe.” Briggs tried to coach him through. He saw his hand lingering over the morphine button. “No, it’s okay. Just breathe through it. It’ll pass.” But Mike gave in and pressed the button, his body slowly relaxing against the bed as the drugs dripped into his system.

“It’s just to get me through the worst of it.” He shrugged nonchalantly.

 _Famous last words_ , Briggs thought.


	2. Kosher

The sound of grunting in pain woke Jenny up. She lifted her head from where it laid on Mike’s hospital bed. Not even knowing she had fell asleep, she blinked and looked to Mike, who was squirming in pain. Again. Every once in a while, the pain of bullet wound would flare up. Bad enough to make flop around like a fish out of water. It killed her. Before she could get to her feet to fetch a nurse, he had already pressed the button that released morphine to his system again.

“Hey,” Jenny rubbed his arm gently. “Remember, we said we’re going to cool it on that stuff.”

“I know.” He sighed, as he relaxed again. “I’m just using it sparingly though.”

Jenny knew that he wasn’t. And it worried her. “That’s some hardcore shit you’re on, Mike.”

He rested a hand on top of hers. “Stop worrying about me.”

“Too bad. I’m going to worry about you, whether you like it or not.” She squeezed his hand tightly. “That’s what you do for the people you care about.” Despite all of the ups and downs they had faced, neither one of them would admit that they loved each other. Jenny wanted to wait until he was off the pain killers, Mike kept chickening out. Even though it wasn’t said aloud, however, it was felt.

He lifted her hand to his mouth and placed a kiss on it. Smiling, she raised herself up enough to bring his lips to his, communicating nonverbally what she wanted to say. “You should go home and get some rest,” He whispered to her, pushing her hair out of her face.

“I don’t want to.” She shook her head. If he was being honest, he didn’t want her to either. “Scoot over a little.” Gingerly, he was able to inch himself to the other side of the bed, as Jenny wedged herself next to him. Being very careful, she wrapped an arm around his torso, and cuddled him closely, breathing in his scent. He rested his head against hers and closed his eyes, feeling perfectly content.

“I don’t think these beds were made for two people.” He commented.

“No shit.” She chuckled sleepily. Gratitude didn’t seem to be a sufficient enough word to describe how she felt. To be able to hold him still was something she did not take lightly. Yes, she was worried about him for many different reasons, but at least they were together. Until her cell phone in her purse started to ring.

“You gotta be kidding me.” He shook his head.

“Ain’t no rest for the wicked.” Jenny groaned as she pushed herself off the bed again and rummaged through her purse to collect her phone. By then, it had stopped ringing. Her stomach dropped when she read the name Trevor Langely on her screen.

“Who is it?” Mike asked, yawning and carefully stretching an arm.

“Just… Charlie.” She lied. “I should probably answer her otherwise she’ll never stop calling. I’ll go step outside though.”

“No, it’s okay.” Mike’s eyes were barely open. “I don’t mind if you talk to her in here.”

“You get some rest, sleepy head.” She placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. “I’ll be right outside the door.”

Him being too tired to argue, he nodded and she slipped out into the hallway. She couldn’t tell him about the hitman she had hired. He needed to be kept innocent in case anything did lead back to her. If she was going to burn for this, she wasn’t going to burn anyone else in the process.

She quickly redialed the number and glanced around at the nearly empty hallway. “Did you get the money I sent to you?” Jenny asked when he answered.

“Just deposited an hour ago.” Langely reported. “And I received the file you sent me on your target. This guy’s no joke.”

“Yeah, I know,” She replied somewhat rudely. “So do you think that’s enough to get the job done?”

“It’s plenty for me to work with.” He replied. “Now, I like to ask my clients how they want to be informed of the updates.”

“I don’t want updates.” The less time she spent taking mysterious phone calls, the less suspicious her housemates would be. “In fact, the next time I hear from you, it better be because the job is done.”

“Alright, alright. Then, I’ll start right away. But I also wanted to disclose my… what I call ‘return’ policy. I don’t give out refunds or anything like that. I’ve been burned too many times by nervous clients with a guilty conscience. So, this is your one and only out, Jenny. Are you sure that you want me to go through with this and kill Sid Markham? If you have changed your mind and tell me now, I’ll give you back all the money and walk away, no questions asked. But that offer ends as soon as you hang up this phone. So are you sure you want to go through with this?”

Jenny’s guilt was becoming a familiar bedfellow. She couldn’t believe that she was even going through with this. Hiring someone to kill another human being. It was not ethical or legal at all. Mike would not approve. Paul wouldn’t approve. Nobody would understand or approve of what she was doing. But Mike’s life was still in danger as long as Sid was still around. She had nearly lost him once, she was not about to risk losing him again.

Glancing towards Mike’s room, she sighed. “Yes, I’m sure.” She stated grimly. “Call me when it’s done.”

>>>

A shower. Jenny needed a shower. Spending most of her time at the hospital was nice and she wanted to be there, but she really needed a nice, long, hot shower. Sometimes, she missed the simplicity of being home, arguing with Johnny about literally anything, while Charlie tried to keep them from tearing each other’s head off. She dragged herself towards the stairs, as Charlie was descending them.

“Hey, kiddo. How’s our Mikey doing?” She greeted warmly.

“Fine.” She replied. “Doctors say he’s making a good recovery. Should be able to come home soon.”

“Good, we miss having him around. And you.”

Jenny rolled her eyes. “Well, I’m only around long enough to take a shower and eat a decent meal.”

Charlie looked at her in concern. “You know, you don’t have to be by Mike’s side all the time. You have a bed and a home here. You need to take care of yourself.”

“Mama, I know you’re worried about me,” She placed a reassuring hand on her friend’s shoulder. “But I’m fine. He needs me, and I want to be there for him.”

Charlie’s phone rang and she looked down at it. “Look, I gotta take this. But don’t sneaking out of here without letting me know, okay?” She slipped into the living room to take the call, as Jenny pushed herself upstairs. Imagining the nice refreshing feeling of a shower.

But she stopped on the last step, staring back at Paige, who was just leaving her room. The two of them had not interacted or seen much of each other since what happened with Mike. And that was for good reason. “Hi.” Paige waved sheepishly.

When she moved her arm, she could see the bandages on her arm from when she got run off the road by one of Sid’s guys. For a split second, she felt a twinge of sympathy. “You okay?”

Paige covered up her arm with her sleeve. “It’s nothing.” The two of them shifted from one foot to another awkwardly, not sure what to say.

“Well, if you excuse me,” Jenny slowly started taking steps towards the bathroom. “The shower head is practically calling my name.”

“I know I don’t deserve anything from you.” Paige jumped in front of her, blocking her path. Jenny shifted her focus towards the wall, away from her. “And I know that what I did was…” She shook off the urge to cry. “But I’m going to try make things right.”

“How?” Jenny asked, still refusing to look at her.

“I’m meeting Sid in an hour.”

Now, Jenny had to look at her in shock. “Wait, what?”

“I got him to think that there was inquest about what happened, and he’s agreed to meet up to get our stories straight.”

“Paige…”

“You don’t have to believe me when I say this,” Paige cut her off. “But I think about what I did nearly every waking moment, and I am so sick of waiting around here, hoping for Sid to slip up. If I do this, then maybe we can finally put an end to everything.”

“No, Paige,” Jenny shook her head. “Look… I am beyond not okay with what you did and think that warrants a transfer out of here. But that does not mean that I want you kamikazing into this. We’re still talking about Sid Markham. The guy shot himself, for crying out loud.”

“I need to do something, Jenn.” She insisted. “And if you have any other ideas, please share them.”

For one of the few times in her life, Jenny was at a loss for words. She didn’t have any other ways to get Sid. That is, other than the deal she already put in place… “Please, tell me you at least have a TAC team set up.” She said.

“Yeah, I was going to ask Johnny to run it.” Paige finally stepped out of her way. “I just thought you should know.” As she started to move towards the stairs, Jenny felt herself hesitate.

“Wait,” She found herself calling after her. “Give me a minute to change into clean clothes. I’m going with you.” Silently, she bid the shower head farewell, like a jilted lover.

“No, you don’t have to.”

“No, I do.” Jenny insisted. “If we’re going to finally nail his ass, I want to be there to witness it myself.”

>>>

Paige found herself standing in the middle of a harbor, surrounded by large boats and shipping containers. Johnny, Jenny, and the rest of the TAC team were hidden in the background, all waiting for Sid to show up.

“Anybody got eyes?” Paige asked into her comm.

“Negative,” Johnny replied, from his high vantage point. “I’m still setting up my scope.”

“Nothing on my end.” Jenny reported from her hidden tech station. She scanned over the screens in front of her that were displaying the security footage of the harbor.

“Making me climb up a damn crane.” Johnny muttered as he readied his gun. “I better be able to shoot Sid’s ass, at least.”

“No one is shooting Sid,” Jenny spoke firmly. “Keep that trigger finger steady, Johnny.”

“At least not until he talks.” Paige added.

“Roger that.” Johnny whined.

Movement caught Jenny’s eye on her screen. “We got movement.”

“I got him.” Paige announced, as she saw Sid’s car pulling around the corner.

“Plates are Sid’s.” Jenny reported after running a quick scan. “Johnny, you in position?”

“Yeah, I’m up. I’m up.”

“Okay, everybody stand by.”

They all watched as the car pulled up close to Paige and placed in park. Sid got out of the car and Jenny felt an evil and angry monster tear at her stomach. The man that had caused her so much pain was only a few feet away from her. She could get up from her hiding place and kill him herself. But she forced herself to stay focused on the mission at hand.

More movement on the screen gave her pause. “Wait, we got more movement.” Jenny tried to isolate the image. “We got another car coming in hot.”

“What, did he bring back up?” Johnny asked.

“No, he’s got no one left.” Jenny pulled up the image of Sid walking towards Paige as the speeding car got closer.

“It looks like he’s reaching for his gun.” Johnny stated, looking through his scope.

“Don’t shoot, Johnny.” Paige reminded him.

Jenny watched nervously as the car pulled in front of Sid, shielding Paige. And then her stomach dropped as she saw who got out of the car. Mike. “What the shit.” Jenny sprang from her hiding spot without thinking and ran out to the clearing.

Sid was retreating back to his car, as Charlie, who had been driving the car, held Paige back. Jenny was able to grab the walkie and yelled into it, as she rushed towards the cars. “Everyone move in! He’s getting away!”

Paige wrenched herself from Charlie’s grip tried make a dash towards Sid, but Mike held her back. Johnny hopped out of the approaching TAC team vans as Jenny yelled for them to follow Sid, who was now peeling out of there like a speed racer. As the vans sped off in that direction, Johnny, Paige, Mike and Jenny all stood feeling the full range of emotion.

“What the hell is going on?” Jenny snapped at them. “Mike, you’re supposed to be in the hospital. And Charlie, why the hell did you bring him here? We nearly had that bastard.”

“Hey,” Mike had ignored Jenny’s ranting and raving and focused on Paige, who was resting her hands on her knees, watching Sid get away. “I get it. And I can’t you let do this.”

Feeling the biggest spike of rage in her life, Paige stood up, turned on her heels, and shoved Mike roughly to the ground. He fell with a thud and a grunt in pain. “Goddammit, Mike! You have to stop trying to save me!”

“Whoa, Paige, back off!” Jenny ran over and shoved her back. She then knelt down by Mike, eyes scanning over him to check for any major damage. “Mike, Mike, are you okay?”

He was slowly able to nod and sit up, with the help of Jenny, pain still coursing through his body. “I’m sorry.” He groaned. “And I forgive you.”

Jenny and Paige both paused in their movement and stared at him. “What?”

“I forgive you.” Mike told Paige sincerely. Jenny looked between them, Paige was just as shocked as she was. Jenny wasn’t ready for forgiveness. And surely, of all people to hold a grudge against her, it would be Mike. But he was being sincere. How could it be so easy for him to do such a thing?

Paige had to walk away to allow herself to cry. Jenny just grunted at him. “You are such a dumbass.”

>>>

Jenny paced the hospital hallway, as Charlie was on the phone with the TAC team who had lost Sid. They, along with Dale and Johnny, had brought Mike back to the hospital to make sure Paige hadn’t done any major damage by shoving him to the ground.

“Yeah, I’ll hold.” Charlie grunted and rolled her eyes.

“This is a nightmare.” Jenny shook her head. “I can’t believe we lost him. Again.”

“Well, I’ve sent word to border patrol, airports, trains, all of that.” Dale tried to assure them. “So if Sid’s going to want to leave the country, it’s not going to be easy. Who blew the op?” He asked, his gaze lingering on Johnny.

“I didn’t blow nothing.” Johnny said defensively. “Ask this dude.” Mike was coming out of his hospital room, slinging a backpack over his shoulder. He was checking himself out early, much to the disagreement of Jenny. But he no longer wanted to wait in a hospital bed, feeling helpless.

“It wasn’t an op.” He replied. “It was a suicide run. Sid was never going to talk.”

Charlie hung up the phone and addressed the group. “His wife and kid just got on a plane to Andorra.”

“No extradition. This is his getaway plan.” Dale and Johnny both started to brainstorm ways to find him as the group made their way to the car.

They made their way back to Graceland, Charlie being unusually quiet. Unseen by Dale, Jenny, or Johnny, Mike had pulled Charlie aside at the hospital before they left. When Mike had got his stuff back, he noticed that something was missing. The tape that had recorded Juan Badillo’s death at the hands of Paul Briggs. No one in the house knew about the tape. Well, a more accurate statement would be that Johnny, Jenny, and Paige didn’t know about the tape. Charlie had been given it by a LAPD cop who had stumbled upon it. She had then given it to Mike, to let him make the decision of what to do with it. Then he got shot, so that put an end to whatever he was planning. But one thing was certain, if that tape was missing, it couldn’t mean anything good.

“Paul?” Charlie shouted as they all entered Graceland. “Paul, you home?”

“So are you with us for good then?” Johnny asked Mike, as Jenny helped him through the doorway.

“I’m not cleared for duty,” Mike informed him. “But I’ll be back in Graceland full-time.”

“Again, I say, you should really be back in the hospital.” Jenny tried to bring up again.

“I’m done laying around.” He told her. “I need to try to get back on my feet.”

Charlie looked to Mike. “I don’t think he’s home.”

“Well, then, all we can do is wait.” He shrugged.

“For what?” Jenny looked between the two of them.

“Everything kosher?” Dale asked.

“Yeah, everything’s kosher.” Charlie assured weakly, as Mike avoided Jenny’s gaze. The two of them knew something, she could tell. Jenny thought Mike was done keeping secrets from her.

In Mike’s avoidance of looking at Jenny, he was able to take a closer look around the state of the house. “Why is the house such a mess?”

“Thank you!” Dale gestured dramatically to him.

Jenny rolled her eyes. “Do not get him started.”

The sound of a door closing got everyone’s attention. They all turned and saw Paige standing before them, clearly not expecting anyone to be home. “I’m moving out.” She announced.

“Out of what?” Johnny asked stupidly.

“The house.” She replied. Jenny turned her gaze to the ground, secretly feeling happy that she was leaving. “I just put in my transfer papers. DEA won’t approve it until Sid’s behind bars, but… it’s happening.”

Charlie and Dale looked shocked. “You’re kidding, right?” Jakes questioned.

“You don’t have to do this.” Mike told her. Jenny glanced over at him, still not believing that he was okay with what had happened to him. Because of her.

“Yeah, I do.” She insisted.

Charlie noticed that she was holding a piece of paper. “Are these your transfer papers?”

“No,” She allowed Charlie to look it over. “Somebody at the DOJ got ahold of the Lina letter. They um…”

“They want to give you the reward for exceptional heroism.” Jakes finished the sentence for her. “See, I told you.”

“That’s incredible, Paige.” Charlie cheered. Jenny looked to be about as uncomfortable as Paige was. Neither of them really thought she deserved it.

“So wait,” Johnny looked at her confused. “You get an award and then you move out? That literally makes no sense.”

Paul Briggs slowly descended the stairs. “If Paige wants out, then she’s out.” Charlie felt anger that he was here the whole time and didn’t acknowledge her when she was yelling for him earlier. “She damn sure doesn’t owe us an explanation.”

“Me and Mike gotta talk to you in private.” Charlie told him.

“Yeah, no, we all have to talk.” Jenny stepped in. “Where were you today?”

Paul’s gaze dropped down the ground in hesitation. “No answer?” Johnny asked. “Alright, cool. Paige almost got shot today, but whatever.”

“You know what, Johnny?” He lifted his gaze. “You’re absolutely right. Come on, guys. Let me tell you about my day.” He gestured for all them to move to the living room, so he could regale his story.

For one of the few times Briggs had been placed at Graceland, he became brutally honest. He told his housemates everything. How Supervisory Agent Logan had placed Paul on an investigation against his will. He was working undercover with the Armenian mafia, the Sarkissian. Today, Paul told them how he had been sent to go under with Ari Sarkissian, one of the head guys in the mafia, and how he had to help Ari kidnap a guy and harvest his kidneys. Briggs had been told that he would have a cover team to intervene when things got too dicey, but there was no team. Logan was using Paul to be the fall guy in case things went south in the case. Everyone sat in stunned silence, listening to him speak.

“I’m under with Ari Sarkissian for one day,” Briggs commented as he finished up his story. “And I already have blood on my hands.”

“You didn’t kill the kid.” Charlie tried to say.

“No, but I’m the case agent now, Chuck.” He replied. “If the Bureau rolls in, makes arrests, the truth comes out. When its laid bare for the jury, somebody has to be held accountable for Ari’s crimes.”

“They’re going to make you stick it to him and then lay it all at your feet.” Paige nodded, but also feeling disgusted.

“Yeah, pretty much. I’ll be their sin-eater.”

“Well then, why don’t you just walk away?” Jenny asked him, worried about her brother.

“Because there are somethings you can’t walk away from, Jenn.” He told her. “I mean, look, every single one of us here, we’ve done some bad things.” Everyone reflected on their sins as he spoke. “Me more than others. This is the penance I gotta pay.”

“Sorry, I’m having trouble understanding here,” Jakes spoke up. “What’s Logan’s play?”

“The Sarkissians are the upper echelon of international arms dealing. No one has ever gotten under with them. So… Logan thinks that I’m his ticket to the top of the world.”

Charlie rubbed her temples. “Jesus Christ, Paul.”

“Why are you telling us?” Mike asked, speaking after a long time of being silent.

“Because that’s what you’re here for.” Briggs looked around at his roommates. “Graceland doesn’t exist because there were a few agents that wanted an ocean view. I mean, this house… it’s pretty dope. But at the end of the day, it’s just walls. What gives it its value are the people inside. That’s us. Every time we go under, we are holding hands with the devil. Thankfully, there’s always six people pulling the other way. So, I guess I’m telling you because… I know already it’s gonna get a lot worse before it gets any better. But I’m hoping you guys will be there. To pull me home. Will you do that for me?”

Johnny and Dale chimed in their agreement. Paul looked to Paige, who just shrugged. Mike gave him a silent nod and Charlie placed a hand on his shoulder. Jenny was the last one to give a response. She was still reeling from all the information he just shared with the group. Her brother was not known for being so forthcoming, even in his youth. She almost wished that she could go back to blissful ignorance. Suddenly she felt a hand on her back. Mike’s. Giving her a gentle nudge. Jenny lifted her head and looked to Briggs. “Nobody messes with my brother.” She stated firmly.


	3. Lose

“Dale, leave him alone.” Jenny scolded him as he held a bowtie over Mike’s head. Mike was asleep on the couch the morning that Paige was getting her award, and so the house was up and dressed.

“Sleeping beauty?” Jakes hit the sleeping man in the face with the tie.

“Charlie, make him stop.” Jenny turned to her, as she finished fastening her earrings. Jenny did not want to attend the ceremony, but Charlie basically threatened her if she didn’t go. So she tried to dress as simply, yet nice as she could.

“What?” Mike stirred awake and squinted in the sunlight, looking up at Jakes.

“Can you tie a bow tie?” Jakes asked him.

“I can tie a regular tie.” He stated, still blinking himself awake.

Dale slumped his shoulders. “Yeah, you and everyone else. That’s not exactly special.”

“Why are you harassing me?” Mike struggled to sit up slowly, his side throbbing in pain.

“Good question.” Jenny muttered.

“Why are you sleeping on the couch?” Jakes countered. “Don’t you have a room?”

“Stairs giving you trouble?” Chalie asked him.

“Yeah, flat ground is fine.” He grunted as he finally sat up. “But the foot over foot thing, I don’t know how you guys do it.”

Jenny rolled her eyes. “At the risk of sounding like a broken record…”

“I’m not going back to the hospital, Jenn.”

“Okay, I don’t think I’m the crazy one for wanting to put you with medical professionals if you can’t handle stairs.” She gestured to Charlie to help her with one stubborn earring that wasn’t going through.

“Leave him alone, Jenny.” Dale told her as he started to twist the tie around his neck. How hard could tying a bow tie be?

Mike was able to finally register their nice outfits. Jakes was wearing a dark grey suit jacket with a nice button up. Charlie was wearing a pencil skirt with a blue blouse. That alone was very unusual, to see normally so casual people dressed up nice. His eyes lingered on Jenny, as he noticed her wearing one of his favorite dresses. Navy blue, simplistic, but very sexy. “What’s with the fancy dress-up?” He asked, trying to tear his eyes away from her.

“Paige is getting that big award.” Charlie reminded him as she finished fastening Jenny’s earring.

“That’s today.” He had forgotten about that. Paige had still not talked to him, despite all the attempts he had tried to make peace with her. And as far as he knew, she was still planning on moving out.

“Yeah, you coming?” Dale asked, giving up on the bowtie.

Mike nodded, trying to psyche himself up enough for that. Ever since waking up, he had a splitting headache. He was going to need his pills soon. “Johnny knows how to tie a bowtie.”

“That would be great if he was home.”

Jenny looked over at him. “He didn’t come home last night?” She remembered that he had slipped out for an “errand” as he called it.

“No,” He replied. “And with Sid gunning for us, I thought that sleeping at Graceland wasn’t optional.” Jenny watched as Mike opened up one of his pill bottles with worry. At least the pills were getting low. Perhaps the doctor will start waning him off of them soon.

“Everything’s optional, DJ.” Paull said as he came down the stairs, adjusting his suit and tie. “It’s all just a matter of one’s parameters.”

“Thank you, Confucius.” Dale quipped. “I’ll remember that the next time I’m being assassinated.” Mike popped a couple pills in his mouth and grabbed a travel mug that was sitting on the coffee table near him. Dale pointed at it as he took a sip from it. “That’s my coffee, man.”

Mike kept drinking from it, but flashed him a thumbs up. Jenny smiled at the banter she dearly missed. But then she turned to Paul. “Lookin’ spiffy, bro.”

“Not too bad yourself, sis.” He nudged her playfully as he tossed some clothes onto the couch. “Brought you a change of clothes, Mike. I figured I would save you a trip up Everest.”

“Thank you.” He muttered. His head was throbbing, but he hoped that the pills he just took would kick in soon.

Charlie was surprised at the man’s chipper attitude, considering the night before Paul had confessed that he was feeling used by the FBI. “You alright?”

“Yeah, top shelf, Chuck.” He replied.

“What about the whole Armenian sin-eating thing?” Mike asked him.

“It’s a new day, Warren,” Briggs shrugged and went to go get himself some food from the kitchen.

Everyone else looked at each other suspiciously. Within 24 hours, he had gone from panicky "what the hell am I going to do" to being... this? “’It’s a new day, Warren.’?” Jenny repeated.

“That cannot be good.” Charlie shook her head.

Dale leaned down and swiped his coffee mug out Mike’s hand. “Nope.” The two of them went to go see if they could investigate what Paul was up to.

But Jenny lingered, sitting herself on the coffee table across from Mike. “You okay?” She asked, studying him closely.

“You need to stop asking me that.” He told her. “I told you I’m fine.” He gestured to her choice of clothing. “I thought you didn’t want to go to this.”

She sighed. “I don’t. But Charlie threatened to drag me there, kicking and screaming, so I didn’t want to make a scene.”

“Well, that’s noble of you.” Mike joked. “You look great.”

She tried to fight a smile from forming on her face, but lost the battle. There was a reason she had chosen this dress. “You, uh, going to need help changing into those clothes?” She flashed him a secretive look.

He missed her meaning, because he shrugged and gathered up the clothes Paul had tossed next to him. "No, I should be able to manage." Jenny audibly sighed, trying to give him more of a hint. Mike saw the annoyance on her face. "Oh, you didn't mean..."

"No, I didn't." She smiled, meeting his gaze.

But of course, the moment was not able to last long. It was Graceland after all. “Hey, Mikey.” Dale poked his head into the room. “Will you get your lazy ass on the move? We’re going to be late.”

“Relax, Dale. Keep your pants on.” Jenny snapped at him. She then winked at Mike. “Maybe next time.”

>>>

Uncomfortable. The chairs they were sitting in were very uncomfortable, and almost made their asses numb the second they sat down. Mike had to lean forward slightly to alleviate the pain. The housemates at Graceland, minus Johnny, who was still MIA, sat in a row watching the stage as some guy in a stuffy suit gave a speech about good people and heroism. And Jenny was uncomfortable. Not just physically.

The guy kept going on about exceptionalism in the field. Paige was a great agent, and was a real badass. She and Jenny had basically been sisters since they met. But ever since Paige gave up Mike to Sid, Jenny couldn’t stand being around her for too long. She had crossed a line. Because of her, Mike nearly died at the hands of a crooked cop. Mike may have told her that he had forgiven her, but Jenny couldn’t bring herself to do it. She kept looking down and wringing her hands, wondering if she should just leave. Paige knew how she felt about her. She knew that Jenny didn’t want to be here. The only reason why she was here at all was because of Charlie. Mike, who was sitting next to her, reached over and placed a hand on top of hers. Jenny stole a glance in his direction, his damn puppy eyes telling her to cool down.

“Today, the Attorney General is awarding DEA Agent Paige Arkin,” The man on the stage gestured to where Paige was standing off to his right. “With the award of Exceptional Heroism.”

The small audience of agents clapped as Paige shook the man’s hand and took the award from him. After a nudge from Charlie, Jenny slowly clapped as Paige went to the mic to make her speech. Paige looked out into the audience as the applause died down. When her gaze fell on Jenny and Mike, her face fell. They were the constant reminder of what she did. She wasn’t much for speeches, and in truth, she hadn’t really planned to say much. So instead, she simply said, “Thank you.”

The ceremony ended shortly after that as Paige was able to shake hands and pose for pictures with her award. Jenny helped Mike up to his feet from the uncomfortable chairs. “You could at least pretend to be civil, you know.” He told her, once he was fully standing.

“Don’t even.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m not going to pretend that I’m okay with anything that she has done.”

“You gotta let this go, Jenn.”

“I can’t,” She raised her voice a little, before catching herself. She glanced around at the milling agents, who seemed to not notice them. “I can’t let this go, Mike. You might be able to forgive her sins, but I can’t.”

“Jenny…” He reached out to try and grab her arms, but she batted them away.

“Mike, you almost died because of her.”

“No, I almost died because of Sid.”

“And how did Sid know where to find you?” She countered. “I don’t get how you can be so zenned about all this. A month ago, you would have stopped at nothing to bag Sid.”

Mike shoved his hands in his pockets. “I’m not an innocent here, Jenn. I did what I did with Lina, and I lied to her. Sometimes, there are more important things to worry about. Being dead for those six minutes showed me that.”

“Are you sure it was that and not your happy little pills?” Jenny argued, feeling all of her suppressed feelings coming out at once. She knew it wasn’t really fair to bring it up at Paige’s ceremony, but there was no stopping her now. He scoffed at her question. “No, Mike. I’m not playing with this, okay? I was there for Paul when he was going through…”

“Would you quit worrying?” He cut her off. “I’m not addicted. They’re prescribed.”

“Yeah, because you can’t get addicted on prescription drugs.” She said sarcastically.

Mike looked over to see where Paige was standing, seeing that Charlie and Jakes were talking to her. “Look, I’m going to go over and tell her congrats. And you should, too. You know what a great agent she is. And you know how much you care about her.” Gingerly, he made his way over to Paige, as Jenny stood watching him go.

He had been different ever since being revived in that hospital room, she knew that. Almost acting like Paul, with his forgiveness routine and dream interpretation. She saw him exchange maybe two words with Paige, before she walked away from him. Jenny had to let out a chuckle. Ironic that he was so easy to forgive and forget, but Paige wasn’t. When he finally looked back to Jenny, she just gave an ‘I told you so’ shrug.

>>>

“Johnny, I am not kidding,” Jenny snapped into the phone as she left him a voicemail. “No word from you in 24 hours, double that and you’re a missing person. Come on, with Sid on our tail, sending me straight to voicemail is a cruel joke. Call me back. Now!” She slammed the phone down on her desk with enough force to crack it in half. No sign of Johnny was very unusual. He was not the quiet as a mouse type.

She opened her laptop to try and ping the location of his cell phone. But her efforts were interrupted by her brother knocking on her door. “Hey, get ahold of J.T. yet?”

“No,” Jenny spat. “I swear to God, if Sid comes for one more person in this house…”

“I’m sure he’s fine. You worry too much.”

“You sound like Mike.” She muttered.

He glanced down to the ground. “You know, back at the hospital… I sneaked a glance in that little notebook of his…”

Jenny lowered her computer screen. “I know, you don’t have to tell me.” She knew it was only a matter of time before he found about Mike’s… doodles.

“You know?”

“Yeah, I was the one who got him that notebook.” Jenny gestured for him to sit on her bed, as she stood up. Her eyes glanced outside the room for a moment, even though she knew that Mike wouldn’t be upstairs. “In those early days, he would be… bouncing in and out of consciousness. And when he would come to, he would start ranting and raving about… nothing. I mean, all this shit about clocks and birds.”

“Clocks and birds?” He repeated, remembering the images Mike had drawn in the notebook.

“Yeah, crazy stuff. None of it made sense. At first, I thought it was him recovering from coming back from the dead, but it almost seemed to get worse as time went on. So I thought… if he had a dream journal, he could… get it out that big ol’ head of his and maybe that would help.”

Briggs nodded. “But… it didn’t.”

Her shoulders slumped. “No, it didn’t. I don’t know. I’m trying to figure it out, but he doesn’t really want to talk about that. Not with me anyway. My theory, it has something to do with the oxy he’s on.”

“You think he’s addicted?”

“I don’t know.” She replied quickly. Even though she was pretty suspicious that Mike really was addicted, she didn’t want to go sharing that with the house just yet. “But… no offense, but after dealing all that stuff with you all those years ago, I’m just cautious.”

Briggs could understand that. Oxycodone was one powerful drug, it was definitely not something to mess around with. He hadn’t really considered that Mike, of all people, would be the one to get hooked on that. But now that Jenny brought it up, he was going to keep a close eye on him. “Well, Ari’s expecting me, so I better get going.” He stood up and started to make his way to the door.

“Yeah, by the way,” Jenny stepped in front of him to cut off his exit. “What was with that ‘It’s a new day, Warren’ shit from earlier?”

He could tell her that he was planning on getting Ari killed. But that would only make her worried. Well, more worried than her normal state of being. “I’m just letting the universe take its course.”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, please, don’t start preaching to me.” She had never bought into his belief system of meditating and all that. Science, things that you could feel and see, and prove, that was what she believed in.

“All I’m saying is… maybe if I start putting out positivity into the world, maybe a little luck will find its way back to me.” He flashed her a wink and slipped out of her room. He was up to something. But she just didn’t know what.

>>>

“Yes, you can just email me the case files and I can see what I can dig up.” Jenny was on the phone with a potential client. It was a typical wife suspecting her husband of being unfaithful. It was a case that Jenny had worked many times over. And about 9 times out of 10, the husband was cheating. It was sure to be a quick and easy job, she was sure of it.

As the conversation ended, and as she walked up the stairs at Graceland, she noticed Jakes standing in Mike’s doorway talking to him. “My man, I just saw you struggle up a flight of stairs.” Jakes was saying. Curiosity getting the better of her, Jenny decided to see what was up. “I don’t think being cleared for duty is in your portfolio.”

“Cleared for duty?” Jenny asked as she entered the room. Glancing around, she saw Mike standing in front of his closet. Upon hearing her voice, he hung his head. He had hoped to avoid her before going to the Bureau physician. “You’re trying to get cleared, Mike?”

“Please, come into my room.” He said sarcastically. “Anyone else want to join us?”

“Knock it off.” She crossed her arms. “First, you wanted to get out of the hospital, now, you want in on the action?”

“What if the bad guys need to be chased up a flight of stairs?” Dale questioned, as Jenny gestured toward him, as if to say that he had a point.

“Guys, I was dead for six minutes.” Mike told them, trying to figure out what shirt he could wear that wasn’t going to be too hard for him to take on or off. “If I was sent back, it was for a reason. And it wasn’t to enjoy an extended convalescence.”

“Did you say you were ‘sent back’?” Jakes asked him. He looked between Mike and Jenny. But she was just as confused as he was.

“You know what I mean.” Mike shrugged, trying to avoid further questions.

“No, I don’t think we do, Mike.” She shook her head. With all the talk of the mysterious birds, clocks, and shit, she was beginning to worry about his state of mind.

“I just can’t sit around here feeling useless.” Mike said.

“Listen,” Jakes spoke up. “If I were you, I’d take it easy. Instead, you’re you. And you want to get your sick ass back to duty. My advice, for when you go in for your physical, maybe leave out the noise about mission from God.”

“Or do.” Jenny countered. “Maybe then the Bureau could talk some sense into you and get you committed with medical professionals, which is what you desperately need.”

Mike rolled his eyes and faced them, leaning on the closet door. “Thanks for the advice, guys.”

“Go with um…” Dale thought for a moment. “Everything’s peachy.”

Jenny scoffed as he made his exit from the room. “Really, Dale?”

“Everything’s peachy.” He repeated as he slipped down the hallway to his room.

She then turned back to Mike, who was now looking at her with his damn puppy eyes. “Can you please explain to me why it seems like I’m the only who cares about your health?”

“Didn’t you hear? I’m just peachy.” He grinned at her, making her roll her eyes at him.

“I’m serious, Mike. You got shot and were legally dead for six minutes. You don’t need to prove anything to anybody.”

He took a step towards her and rubbed her arms soothingly. “I’m not trying to prove anything. But it’s like I said, I can’t keep sitting around thinking about the pain.”

“Then learn how to knit or take up jigsaw puzzles or something.” Unable to help herself, she wrapped her arms around his neck. He responded by grabbing on her waist and holding her close to him. “You don’t need to be going all John Wick in order to forget about pain.”

“I’ll be careful.” He assured her. “Just because I’m cleared for duty that doesn’t exactly mean I’m going to be kicking down doors all the time. You have to stop worrying about me all the time.”

“I can’t help it. I almost lost you once. I’m not about to lose you again.”

“You won’t.” Mike leaned in and gave her a gentle kiss. Jenny allowed it to happen, even though she tried to tell herself to stop. Maybe he was still high on his pills. And he was really only trying to convince her that he was well enough to get cleared for the field. But dammit, she… she loved him. As much as she would try and tell herself otherwise, it was true. They deepened the kiss, as they both felt an overwhelming sense of need wash over them. With Mike’s hair having grown out a little, Jenny found her fingers interweaving through the strands and gripping it tightly.

“When do you have to be at the doctor’s?” She asked breathlessly, pulling away just enough to whisper.

“I can be late.” He grabbed the back of her head to pull her close again to reconnect their lips. Jenny kicked his door closed with her foot and gently pushed him towards the bed, trying to be very mindful of his wound. But with the amount of lust he was feeling, he had nearly forgotten about his injury. The two of them tangled themselves up in each other’s embrace, as they fell on the bed, refamiliarizing themselves with the other person’s body.


	4. Sizzle

Charlie was convinced that she could get Paige to stay. So she got the rest of the house to hold a dinner for her. The plan was that Charlie would make her infamous burgers and everyone would be on their best behavior or face her wrath. Mike and Jakes were helping set the table, as Jenny finished up a phone call from the woman who had called earlier to hire her for a job.

“Yo, this is like a $500 bottle of wine,” Jakes commented as he studied the wine bottle he had just set on the table.

Charlie was hoping in and out of the kitchen, checking the grill to see how the burgers were coming along. Her phone, that was sitting on the counter, was ringing so she moved to go answer it. “Yeah, I know what it is. Paige can’t leave me and Jenn here with a bunch of bone-headed silverbacks.” She then took the phone outside for privacy.

Paul came into the living room at that point, sniffing the air. “What’s the occasion?”

“Charlie’s under the belief that she can get Paige to stay with a little family dinner.” Jakes replied, as he finished up laying out the silverware. Mike went about putting plates around the table.

“Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Jenny hung up the phone and joined the boys around the table.

“Business or pleasure?” Briggs joked.

“Business.” She replied. “Another routine wife suspecting her husband of cheating case. Spoiler alert, he is.”

“I thought you didn’t work those cases anymore. They were too easy, right?”

“Yeah, well, I’m just in it for the cash. They may be easy, but these women sure pay top dollar to have me dig up dirt on their men.”

Mike turned to address to Paul. “What happened with Ari?”

“You were right. Plan didn’t end well.”

“So what’s next?”

“New plan.”

Jenny squinted at the two of them. “What plan?”

Her brother shrugged. “Not sure of the particulars yet. But I will keep you posted.”

“You better.”

Charlie hung up the phone and joined the group. “Bad news, Amber can’t tag Germaine.” She reported. She had been trying to track down the son of a bitch who beat her to a bloody pulp. Amber, the girl who they had convinced to rob Sid Markham’s bank, was their only shot at finding the man. Even Jenny couldn’t find him in her digital skills. Mostly because all they knew was that he was British and the only name they had was Germaine, not sure if it was a first or last name. “Good news, there’s a guy down in the Everglades who can.”

“Florida?” Briggs raised his eyebrows in worry.

“Yeah, me and Amber are going to go down there, big bag of money, get in with him. Eventually ask him to clean our profits.” Charlie explained.

“Uh-huh.” He nodded. “Did you say Amber and you?”

“That’s how it works.” She shrugged. Everyone else tried to duck their heads, sensing the seriousness of the conversation. Charlie and Paul were no longer a couple, but one fact still remained.

“You’re pregnant.”

“No shit.” She replied. “The Bureau is taking me out of the field in eight weeks. What, Paul?”

“Amber nearly got you killed.” He argued. “And now you want to run a long-term drug op with her down in the swamps?” Dale, Jenny, and Mike started to pour the $500 wine and quietly sipped at it. Jenny wasn’t sure who she was banking on winning the argument, but she was not about to miss it.

“Yeah, this was your idea, remember?”

“It’s not happening.”

“Hey, why don’t we just have some drinks…” Mike tried to speak up, as Jenny shook her head at him and placed a hand on top of his to silence him. She knew better than to get in the middle of an argument with either Charlie or Paul.

“You’re not going to tell me what to do.” Charlie snapped at Briggs.

“You almost lost the baby once, Chuck.”

“No, shit. That’s why I want to get him now.”

“If you so much as step foot on a bird, I will have you on maternity leave before you push back from the gate.” Briggs stated firmly. Jenny bit her lip, trying to prepare herself for the ass-whooping her brother was about to receive. “Look, you’re a mom now. Act like it. You want to get Germaine? Find another way.” 

What hardly anyone saw or paid attention to was Paige slowly walking into the room. She stood awkwardly witnessing most of the exchange between Briggs and Charlie. As Paul stormed away, she glanced down at the ground. “I’m going to go pack.”

Paul and Paige slipped upstairs, as Charlie, Dale, Mike, and Jenny were left in the dining area. “Are we still gonna eat?” Jakes asked after a moment of silence passed.

“Dale.” Jenny scolded him.

“Yeah, you’ll get your precious burgers.” Charlie mumbled as she stormed out to the patio, slamming the door behind her.

“Yikes.” Mike commented as he sipped his wine.

“Another beautiful day in paradise.” Jenny said sarcastically.

“I should go talk to Paige.” Mike thought aloud looking towards the stairs.

Jenny rolled her eyes. “Why? She made her choice. Besides, she doesn’t want to talk to you.”

“Yeah, man.” Jakes nodded. “I don’t think that you’re exactly her favorite person right now.”

“Guys, she’s leaving because of me.” He insisted. “It’s because of everything that happened with the girls in Sylmar and… Lina.” He glanced at Jenny, who swallowed thickly at the mention of that poor girl’s name. Lina had been a girl that Paige had connected with when she was grabbed by the sex traffickers. When Mike had tried to free Lina, she had been stabbed and killed. In an effort to keep Paige from finding out, he had burned her body and wrote a letter home to the girl’s family. “I think it’s time she found out the truth.”

“Does she deserve it though?” Jenny questioned out of spite.

Jakes looked confused between the two of them. “Why wouldn’t she? What truth?”

“Don’t worry about it.” She told him.

“We can’t keep having secrets in this house, Jenn.” Mike said. “It’s always leads to nothing but trouble.”

“But I just don’t think…” Jenny tried to say.

But Mike was already slowly standing up, trying to hide a wince as he straightened up. “I’m sorry, Jenny. But I gotta make this right.” He then shuffled to the stairs, leaving only Jakes and Jenny at the table.

Jakes leaned in towards Jenny. “Are you going to clue me on the context of that conversation or are we going to play 20 Questions?”

She shrugged and sipped her wine. “20 questions sounds like fun.” Jenny was not in the mood to start dredging up all that happened with Paige. Her mind quickly tried to think of something to change the subject. “Hey, you heard from Johnny yet?”

He could tell she was trying to change the subject, but he also wanted to talk about Johnny so he allowed it. “No, ma’am.”

Glancing over her shoulder to make sure they were alone, she dropped her voice. “Do you think he went to Lucia?”

He looked to her. “You don’t think he would…”

“Yeah, I do, Jakes. You know how upset he’s been. His phone is off, so I can’t call him or get a location on his cell. So,, my guess is he’s either with her or…”

“Or Sid got to him.” Dale stated, as they both shuddered at the thought. “The little bastard.”

Jenny shook her head. “I can’t stand the fact that he’s still out there. And with Johnny in the wind…”

Charlie stormed back into the room, a full plate of burgers in hand. “Here’s your precious burgers, Dale.” She slammed them on the table and slumped in one of the chairs.

Jenny dared to reach out a hand towards her friend. “Paul was out of line, Mama. He shouldn’t have said all that.”

“Shut up and eat your dinner.” She replied gruffly.

>>>

It was a long and quiet car ride. Paige was driving with Charlie sitting in the passenger seat. Jenny was sitting in the back, trying to be civil. Charlie had pushed both of them into the car, despite all the whining they both did, and ordered Paige where to drive them. The gravity of the situation weighed heavily on the car, as well as the tension between Paige and Jenny.

As Paige pulled up to the family clinic, Jenny felt a wave of sympathy wash over her. Was Charlie seriously considering getting rid of her baby? Just because of a fight with Paul? “You don’t have to do this,” Paige told Charlie. “You say one word and we are out of here.”

“It’s something I gotta do.” Charlie replied gravely.

“Are you sure, Mama?” Jenny asked gently, reaching forward and placing a hand on her friend’s shoulder.

“Is this something that you _want_ to do?” Paige questioned.

“My nonna was a cardiologist.” Charlie spoke in monotone. “She worked until she was 74. It’s ironic. It took two heart attacks for her to retire. She had pensions, savings, all of that, but she kept going back to work because she said, when people looked at her, they saw a doctor. Like, they saw someone who they respected and… the second she hung up that white coat, she was just an old lady.”

“But you’re not an old lady.” Jenny told her. “Not to us.”

“You asked me what I want.” Charlie finally turned to face Paige. “That’s the question. Because… down one path, I’m Charlie DeMarco, federal agent. And down another path, I’m Charlie DeMarco, single mom. And you know what, Paul said it. I may not like it, but… he’s not wrong. You know?” She carefully brushed a single tear out of her eye. “It’s just a choice I have to make.”

Paige and Jenny were unsure of what to say. Neither one of them had ever been in a situation like this, so they felt like they couldn’t really offer any advice. “And you’re sure about this?” Paige asked.

“No, Paige. I’m not sure of anything anymore.” She replied. “It’s just one of those things, man. Life hands them to you all the time. You’ve got a steaming heap of shit in your left hand, and a steaming heap of shit in your right. And you look at both and you can’t tell one bad hand from the other.”

Jenny and Paige finally understood. Charlie wasn’t going to change her mind. “Do you want us to go in with you?” Jenny quietly asked her.

“No, I’ll be fine on my own.” She shook her head, unbuckling her seatbelt.

“Then, why did you ask us both to come?” Paige thought aloud.

“Because you’re my girls. I needed my girls with me for as long as I still need them.” Charlie reached over and took Paige’s hand, while reaching another hand towards Jenny. “I love you both so much. Thank you for being here for me. But I’ll be alright, really. You can go on home.” Slowly, she released her friends’ hands and opened the door to get out. Paige and Jenny sat in the car for a moment in silence as they watched Charlie enter the clinic.

“Do you mind if I sit up front?” Jenny finally asked.

“Yeah, fine.” Paige said, wiping away a tear from her eye.

As Jenny moved to the passenger seat, they sat staring forward at the clinic, Paige making no effort to move the car just yet. “Did Mike tell you what happened with Lina?” Jenny stared down at her hands.

Paige looked over at her in confusion. “You knew?”

She nodded. “Remember, when Mike was wiring up the place for sound? Well, that night, you had fallen asleep and I had just happened to have been listening.”

“There’s a recording?”

“Not anymore. I deleted it almost immediately.” Jenny admitted quietly, trying not to look at her. “I heard that poor girl’s last gasps of air, and… it still haunts me. I didn’t want you to be haunted by that. I wanted you to remember her as she was. A human being. A fighter. Then, Mike decided to go on his own path with it, and I didn’t agree with it at all. But I couldn’t… I couldn’t bring myself to tell you the truth. I didn’t want to be that person that took something away from you.”

Paige swallowed thickly. And Jenny finally turned in her seat to face her. “You were my sister, Paige. I loved you. But… when you did what you did…” Tears stung her eyes as she spoke. “I’m not going to sit here and say that I don’t understand why you did it. But… you didn’t just hurt Mike when you talked to Sid.”

“I know.” Paige finally spoke, tears also flowing down her cheeks. “It was… so stupid and spiteful. And now, every time I see you or Mike or that stupid award…. I can’t think of anything else but my mistake. And what it almost cost. To say that I’m sorry… doesn’t seem to even remotely cover it.”

Jenny reached across the car and hugged her friend tightly. They both sobbed into each other’s shoulders, letting out all the emotions they had been keeping bottled up since Sid nearly killed Mike.

“I forgive you,” Jenny whispered to her.

>>>

Mike and Jenny laid in his bed, entangled in each other’s embrace. She had just told him about taking Charlie to the clinic with Paige. “Whoa,” He commented while staring up at the ceiling, his hand tracing long ovals on her arms. “And you just let her go through with it?”

“Charlie had already made up her mind.” She said. “And besides, what were me or Paige supposed to say?”

They both knew that Charlie was not an easily swayed individual. “But she didn’t even tell Paul?”

“No, she didn’t want to give him a chance to talk her out of it.” She felt bad for her brother. He had been excited about becoming a father, albeit also incredibly nervous. But when Charlie called Paul to pick up from the clinic after it was done, he had come back looking ashen. “I don’t know who I feel more sorry for.”

“Yeah,” He wrapped his arms tighter around her, half offering her comfort and half trying to comfort himself. Paul and Charlie meant a lot to both of them, so it was hard to process the events that had happened that night. Mike could also feel another wave of pain shooting through him. He squeezed his eyes closed, trying not to cry out in pain.

But Jenny could feel him tense up. She lifted her head enough to look at him. “Mike, what’s wrong?” She asked, worry slowly replacing her sorrow.

“It’s nothing.” He tried to say, but felt his head pound and throb. A groan escaped him, as his hand reached out to his nightstand, trying to find the pill bottle.

But she reached out and pulled the hand back, holding it to her. “Mike, it’s okay. It’ll pass, just breathe.”

“I need the pain killers.” Mike moaned, having trouble to keep his eyes open.

“No, you don’t. You’ll be fine. Just squeeze my hand. Keep breathing.” She held his hand tightly and tried to coach him through the wave.

He fought against his own body hard, but could feel himself getting weaker by the second. “Just let me take the goddamn pills, Jenn!” He snapped, wrenching his hand from her and grabbing the bottle.

“No,” She sat up enough to grab the bottle out of his hand and holding out of his reach.

“Jenny, knock it off.” He tried to sit up to reach for it, but the pain sent him flat on his back again.

“No, you are stronger than this, Mike.” She insisted. “It’ll pass, just fight it.”

He flailed and groaned for another moment, before the pain subsided enough for him to relax a little. But he could feel his hands shaking and his head still pounded like someone was hitting it with a hammer. “What’s your problem?” He couldn’t help but lash out at her.

“I’m not the one with the problem, Mike.” She shook her head calmly, not letting his anger get to her. “Oxy is no joke, and you need to cut yourself off, before you let it control you.”

He rolled his eyes. “I’m not addicted. Why do you keep thinking that?”

“Because you almost just broke my arm trying to grab for these.” Jenny brought the pill bottle closer to the nightstand, but whipped away when he tried to grab for it again. “I’m serious, Mike. You need to cool it.”

“There’s only like a few left anyway.” He negotiated.

“I don’t care.” She grabbed one of his hands again. “Look, I know a thing or two about this. If you recall, I had a front row seat to Paul’s ride, and it was not pretty. I’m not about to let you get sucked into this.”

He sighed, staring up at the ceiling. His vision was almost becoming blurry. Every single cell in his body seemed to crave and scream for the pills, like he was possessed with a million demons. “Just let me take one goddamn pill.”

But Jenny was almost just as stubborn as him. “No.”

“Jenny!”

“No, Mike. I… I care about you too much.” She leaned in closer to him. “And if you care about me at all, you would listen to me. No more pills. Can you at least try?”

He sighed in defeat. “Alright, I’ll try.”

Jenny smiled, slowly getting up to place the pill bottle in his bathroom. Mike watched her, trying to ignore all the impulses he had to swipe the bottle from her hand. Once she carefully placed it in the cupboard, she returned and climbed into bed next to him.

“Just hang on to me.” She told him quietly, resting her head on his chest, trying to soothe his aching body with her touch.

He tried to focus on holding her, but his eyes kept glancing towards the bathroom. But he tried to remember that he was trying to show Jenny that he cared for her. He does. He may even… well, he cared for and that was the point. Eventually, Jenny fell asleep, peacefully resting and forming a small drool puddle on his chest.

Mike’s head still ached immensely. It felt like his brain was growing and trying to free itself from his skull. He tried to keep his breathing steady, so he wouldn’t wake Jenny. After about an hour after she fell asleep, he thought he would at least go splash some water on his face. He was starting to break out in a cold sweat after all. Carefully, he turned Jenny over on her side and carefully walked to the bathroom. One minute he had turned on the sink to splash water on his face, but then the next minute the pill bottle was in his hand. He didn’t even remember grabbing it.

 _Don’t do it, Mike,_ he tried to tell himself. _Remember what you told Jenny._ He looked towards the bed, seeing her sleeping figure, content and rested. He couldn’t betray her. _Well, there are only a few left anyway. I’ll be fine once the bottle’s empty. Then I can start to cut myself off._ Mike poured a couple pills out. He hesitated, not sure about taking two pills. Normally, he only tried to limit himself with one. It was an accident to pour out two. He popped one pill in his mouth, feeling his body respond to it instantly like a desperate hunger. Maybe he could save the other for when he really needed it… no, he was going to try and cut himself off. The sooner he gets rid of these, the sooner he can cut himself off. Taking another look towards Jenny, he swallowed the second pill. _I’m sorry, Jenny._


	5. Signs

“Johnny,” Jenny gasped when she came down the stairs to find him in the kitchen eating breakfast. “Oh, my god, you’re okay.” She ran over to him and hugged him, sending a thankful prayer to whoever would listen.

He shrugged her off. “Get off me. Your hair is getting in my food.”

“What the hell is your problem?” She slapped him on the arm. “You don’t go disappearing on me when Sid’s out there. Where the hell were you?”

“I was visiting my mom,” He lied. Truth was, he had been helping Sid sneak over the Mexican border, as mandated by Carlito Solano, who still held his sister captive. Sid was trying to collect his getaway money from Carlito, but Johnny had convinced him that Carlito didn’t want to hand over the money. When the two of them collided... well, things had gone wrong.

Jenny squinted at him, not believing him. “Really?”

“Yeah, she was getting worried, so I stayed with her to calm her down.” He doubled down, and scooped more food in his mouth, as Paige came into the kitchen.

“Hey, Johnny. Welcome back.” She greeted, rubbing his head affectionately.

“Will y’all stop hovering over me?” He snapped at the two of them. “I’m an adult, you know.”

“An adult who just dropped off the grid for a day.” Jenny countered. “You had me worried sick.”

“I’m sorry, okay?” He rolled his eyes. “But as you can see, I’m fine. Now, can we please go back to normal?”

“Nothing about you is normal, Johnny.” Paige muttered, as she poured herself her morning coffee.

Briggs came down the stairs and greeted everyone with a smile. “Hey, sis, I could use your genius this morning.”

Jenny rolled her eyes after swallowing a mouthful of coffee. “Paul, it’s barely 9 am. Can’t you give me a moment to wake up?”

“Come on, I need your help on this Ari case I’m on.” He tried to convince her. “I need to trace a deactivated cell phone number. According to you, that’s something you can do in your sleep.”

Her brother pleaded with his eyes, before Jenny caved. “You are so lucky I love you.”

Jenny sat down next to her brother on the kitchen island after grabbing her laptop. He told her the number as she typed it in. Jenny let her fingers fly over the keys as Briggs looked over her shoulder.

“What are you guys doing?” Jakes asked as he waltzed into the room.

“Trying to trace a deactivated cell phone,” Briggs told him. “See if I can create a heat map to triangulate the guy’s position.”

“You said that like you’re doing all the work,” Jenny quipped, keeping her focus on the screen.

“My apologies. Jenny’s doing all the work, and I’m just sitting here looking dumb.”

She smiled triumphantly. “Much better.”

“Hey,” Mike came into the room, staring down at his cell phone. Everyone turned to look at him, sensing something was important. “Sid Markham’s dead.”

Jenny’s smile instantly disappeared. Was it Langely? Did he work that fast? “Dead,” Paul repeated, looking around the room. Dale and Paige looked just as shocked. Johnny swallowed thickly. “Explain.”

“Someone put a bullet in his head,” Mike reported. “And dropped him off at the border.” That didn’t really sound like Trevor… and she hadn’t received any phone calls from him. Was the man really dead?

“Oh, my god.” Jenny commented aloud.

“He must have gone running to Carlito.” Briggs supposed.

Dale shrugged nonchalantly. “I say the piece of shit got what he deserved.” 

“Yeah, but it should have been one of us that took him out.” Paul said, as Johnny and Jenny bit their lips nervously.

“Damn right, it should have been one of us.” Paige nodded.

“It’s time to shut Carlito down.” Mike leaned against the counter.

“It’s about damn time.” Jenny remarked.

“Yeah, shut down the planes.” Dale sipped at his coffee excitedly.

“Whoa, wait,” Johnny finally spoke up. “We don’t have him yet. Right, Mike?” He looked to the blonde man, who was rubbing his face pensively. “I mean if we shut him down now, he walks. I’m still under with him. Let me get him.”

“Look, I get it, Johnny.” He told him. “But this is my case. And you’re no closer to arresting Carlito than you were a month ago. There’s a point when we need to settle for a victory and move on.” He stole a quick glance at Jenny, who was still trying to process Sid’s death to notice.

“Mike’s right,” Paul nodded. “Sometimes, you end it, live to fight another day.”

“Yeah, that’s funny coming from you two.”

“Johnny,” Jenny snapped at him.

“Okay,” Paige started to strategize. “DEA’s got district offices in Vegas and Riverside. They can mobile within the hour.”

Mike looked to Dale. “HSI? They take care of those stash houses?”

“Yeah, whatever you need.”

“Count me in, too.” Jenny volunteered. “If this is going to end, I want to witness it myself.”

Johnny stood up and started for the stairs. “The hell with y’all, man.” The rest of the house exchanged worried looks. Dale held up a hand. “I got him.”

“Think he’s still hung up on Lucia?” Paige asked the rest of the room.

“I would be willing to lay down multiple stacks of cash on that.” Jenny rolled her eyes. “Hey, by the way, where’s Charlie?”

“Florida.” Paul reported solemnly. Mike and Paige exchanged knowing looks.

“Already?” Jenny gasped. She had only had an abortion the night before and she was back in the field.

“Well, you know Chuck. Not one to stay at home and knit.” He shrugged. Then, he gestured to the screen. “Will you let me keep at this while you’re out smashing skulls?”

“Yeah, you should have the area it was last active in a couple of minutes.” Jenny nodded. Then she addressed Mike and Paige. “Let’s shut this bitch down.”

>>>

Gun fire hit the side of the SUVs like hail. Luckily, the team was already armored up and ready to fire back. The agents in the SUVs poured out and started firing at the Mexican dealers who were there to pick up the shipment that just fell from the planes. The two sides fired at each other, taking cover behind their respective cars.

Jenny dove out of sight, lined up her scope with a gangbanger and shot him in the leg. He cried out in pain, as she fired another shot getting him in the arm. “Federal agents!” Someone from the team of agents shouted over the gunfire. “Drop your weapons!” After a couple more rounds were exchanged, the gang members held up their hands in surrender and lowered their weapons, seeing as they were outnumbered.

Mike, Paige, and Jenny came out of where they had ducked for cover and scanned over the small group being cuffed and seen to by the agents. It had been a relatively easy takedown, something that Jenny didn’t entirely trust. Paige got out a crowbar and made her way towards the large crate that had fell from the sky, still hooked up to a parachute. “Hey,” She held the crowbar out to Mike. “After all this, you want to do the honors?”

“No, go ahead.” He shook his head.

“Screw that.” Jenny took the crowbar from Paige and started to pry open the wooden crate. But they all then heard something moving within the box. Movement and some sort of sound. Was there someone inside?

“Hear that?” Paige asked the group.

“Yeah, open it.” Mike and the rest of them grabbed onto the side as Jenny wrenched the crowbar into the side. After some struggling the wall came loose, and fell to the ground, kicking up sand upon its descent. They all covered their eyes, shielding them from the sand. But as they looked down they saw what had been making all the noise. Chickens. Live chickens spilled out of the box, clucking and squawking around.

“Goddammit,” jenny threw the crowbar on the ground in anger, causing some of the chickens to cover away.

“Carlito knew we were coming.” Paige shook her head. She looked over to Mike, who seemed transfixed by the chickens. “Mike?”

Jenny heard the concern in her voice and shot a look towards him. He was muttering something to himself, staring at the chickens as if they were speaking to him. Jenny and Paige exchanged uneasy glances. “Mike.”

“Gun!” An agent shouted. “We got a gun!” Before anyone had much time to react, a gunshot echoed over the desert. Paige and Jenny took cover behind the large crate, holding out their weapons, trying to find the shooter.

But Jenny looked over and saw Mike still standing out in the open, acting like he couldn’t hear anything. He was still staring at the chickens. “Mike, get down!” She shouted at him, as Paige fired a round of bullets in the direction of the stray shooter. A bullet was sent flying through the shooter’s skull, but not before a round of bullets hit the side of the wooden crate, mere inches away from where Mike stood. Again, he never flinched.

“Mike, what the hell?” Jenny came out from behind the crate as a couple of agents rushed to see to the fallen shooter. “Have you ever heard of duck and cover?”

“There’s only 29.” He announced in disappointment.

“What?” She shook her head, glancing over at Paige again.

He gestured towards the chickens, who were clucking in alarm at the loud gunshots that were just exchanged over their heads. “There’s only 29.” Without saying anything else, Mike sauntered over to the SUVs again, leaving Paige and Jenny feeling a large mix of both worry and confusion.

Jenny stomped over towards him, roughly spinning him around and shoving against the car. She had momentarily forgot he was injured until he clutched his side and winced. “Oh, good, you can feel something.” She spat, not letting herself fall for it. “Want to explain to me what the hell just happened?”

“Carlito knew we were coming.” He said innocently, trying to steady his breathing.

“I’m not talking about that, you dumbass. I want to know why you didn’t even flinch when bullets were flying over your head. Since when do you care about chickens?”

He sighed, trying to figure out how he could spin it. He hadn't told her about his vision... “I guess I was just upset that Carlito duped us again.”

“Bullshit.” She placed her hands on her hips. “You on the pills again?”

He scoffed at her. “Jenny…”

“Don’t you give me that. Look me in the eye and tell me you aren’t on the pills right now.” He tried to steel his gaze, and look to her, but she had already guessed his secret.

“Let’s just go home, okay?” He went over to talk with some of the agents, trying to do anything to avoid talking to her.

“He say what happened?” Paige came up behind her.

“No.” Jenny shook her head. “But I might have sneaking suspicion.”

Paige knew what she meant. They both stared at Mike, studying him like psychologists. “He still on the oxy?”

“He told me he was going to try and stop.” She admitted quietly.

“Well, you and I both know that is a lot easier said than done in cases like these.”

Jenny shot her an angry look. “Mike’s not a junkie, Paige.”

She held up her hands in surrender. “I’m not saying he is. But you and I both just witnessed him counting chickens in the middle of a desert. I don’t really think that means he’s of sound mind.”

She knew she was right. Mike was not oblivious. He always thought ten moves ahead in every situation and had quick reflexes. This was not normal for him. “I don’t know what to do, Paige.” Jenny told her. “I’ve tried to talk to him, but…”

“You can’t give up on him, Jenn.” Paige placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “We know what this road leads to, and… we can’t let that happen to him.”

“What am I supposed to do?”

After taking another glance towards Mike, Paige shrugged. “I don’t really know. But we can’t do nothing. Next time, he might not be so lucky.”

>>>

“I’m very sorry.” Jenny told the now sobbing woman. They were sitting on the rich lady’s yacht, sipping champagne like they were in a rap video. She had just been informed that not only had the husband been cheating on his wife, but had a whole other family stashed away. And Jenny thought her family was messed up.

“I’m sure I seem pathetic to you,” The rich lady wiped away her tears. “Poor little rich girl crying about her asshole husband.”

“No, not at all,” Jenny lied. This lady had a yacht that was practically bigger than Graceland itself. How many problems could she possibly have?

“Well, I appreciate your services.” The woman steadied her breathing. “I will wire you the money by the end of the day.”

“Take your time.” She downed the rest of the champagne. “If you ever need anything else, you can give me a call. You still have my card.”

As she rose up from the table, the woman snickered bitterly. “You happen to know of any good hitmen?”

The question, though seemingly said in jest, seemed to stab Jenny in the gut. Trevor Langley still had not contacted her about the death of Sid Markham. Jenny had seen his body herself, just to confirm that the evil man who had plagued the house for months was actually dead. He was, but who exactly shot him remained a mystery to her. “I truly am sorry,” was all Jenny said, before making her exit off the boat.

Once she reached the docks, her phone started to ring. Thinking that it was Langely, she answered it quickly without even looking at the caller ID. “Hello?”

“Jenny, it’s Dale. Can you hear me?” He shouted into the phone.

She couldn’t hide her disappointment, but she tried not to let on. “Dale? Why are you yelling at me?”

“I’m on a boat right now.” He explained.

“You hate boats.” She commented in confusion.

“Yeah, but I’m with Johnny.” She heard him say something to Johnny, then the background noise died down. “There, that’s better.”

“Why the hell are you and Johnny on a boat?” She asked, still confused.

“I think John-boy has something he would like to confess.” Dale put his phone on speaker and held out to Johnny. He had made a confession to Dale earlier, who knew that he had to tell Jenny.

“Hey, Jenn.” She heard him say timidly.

“Would someone please tell me what’s going on?” Jenny's eyebrows pinched together.

“Man, why I gotta tell her?” Johnny asked Dale.

“Because we are not keeping secrets in this house any longer.” Dale told him. “Besides, she was nearly ready to call in the cavalry to go look for you yesterday, man.”

“Guys,” Jenny grunted in frustration. “Stop talking about me like I ain’t on the phone right now. Johnny, what’s up?”

After a slight pause, she heard him sigh. “I was with Sid yesterday.”

Jenny took a moment to let the information sink in. “You… you what?”

“Carlito had it set up to send him some cash for his getaway plan.” He went on to explain. “And he had me be the guy’s escort to get it. But I figured I could use him to get Lucia out from underneath Carlito.”

“Jesus, Johnny.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. Of course, it was about Lucia. The man had been obsessed with her ever since first going under with Carlito.

“But that’s not all.” Dale spoke up. “Keep going.”

“I told Carlito that you guys were closing in on him.” Johnny admitted.

“You’re freaking kidding me.” Jenny, who by now was sitting in her car, slumped against the chair. Finding out that most of the problems she had been facing in the last 12 hours were caused by Johnny of all people was almost too much to process. “So why are you on a boat?”

“Carlito has me transporting the drugs on boats now.” He replied. “Jakes followed me and volunteered to be my brigadier.”

“I did not do that. That is revisionist history.” Dale joked. “I just didn’t want you to go at this alone.”

“All this, just for Lucia?” Jenny shook her head and chuckled ruefully. “To say that you have royally screwed up, Johnny, does not even begin to cover it.”

“Look, I know…” He looked between Jakes and the phone. “But that ain’t all of it.”

“Jesus, what else could there be?” She snapped.

Johnny hesitated again, before admitting, “I was the one who killed Sid.”

It was a good thing that Jenny was sitting down, otherwise, she might have collapsed. “You didn’t tell me that.” She heard Dale say.

“Yeah.” She could hear the sadness in his voice. “Me and Sid were trying to get the drop on him. And then… all hell broke loose. And Sid was going to kill Carlito. So I had to make a choice.”

Trevor Langley was not going to like this news. “Johnny…”

“Sid’s head….” He continued. “It burst open like a balloon. I mean, we’ve all shot people before. On op’s and raids. Like, shit happens. I ain’t ever lost a minute of sleep over it. But this was different, man. This was like… an execution.”

“Hey,” Dale spoke up. “You did what you had to do.”

“Yeah, but it still don’t feel right. I’m sorry, Jenn.”

Her mind was racing with what this all meant for her. What was Langley going to do when he found out? What was she going to do with him? And how were they going to get the drop on Carlito now? “Look, I’m glad the bastard’s dead.” She sighed, running a hand through her hair. "At the end of the day, that's what we all wanted. But can you guys just do what you need to do and get home quickly? I can't handle anymore curveballs. Johnny, that means you too.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Johnny replied.

“I’ve got his back.” Dale spoke into the phone. “Don’t worry.”

But even when they hung up the phone, Jenny couldn’t help but feel worry.

>>>

Jenny knocked on her brother’s bedroom door, sneaking a peek inside. “Paul, you in here?”

“Hey, sis.” He rose up from where he sat at his desk, trying to sift through the many files on the Sarkissians. “Come on in.”

“Any luck tracing your deactivated cell?” She asked casually as she entered the room, and sitting on his bed.

“Yeah, it turns out it was Colby Moore’s cell, the guy who worked with Ari before. I got him to help me cook up a plan to take Ari down.” He replied, sitting on top of the desk across from her.

“Is it a plan that’s dangerous?” She had to ask.

“These are the Sarkissians, Jenn. The whole thing is dangerous. I can’t avoid it.”

She sighed, knowing he was right. “Will you let me help at least?”

“Well, I actually might need the whole house in on it.” He crossed his arms pensively. “That is, if I can sell it to Ari first.” She nodded and twisted part of the covers on his bed absentmindedly. “So, what’s up?”

After a moment of hesitation, she inhaled deeply. “I need your help. With Mike.”

Briggs nodded slowly. “Is it about his happy little pills?”

“Yeah,” She glanced out his window. “Today, he was standing in the middle of gunfire, counting chickens.”

“Paige told me about that.” He scratched his chin. “And they were red chickens?”

Jenny looked to her brother. “Yeah. Reddish. He was disappointed when there were only 29.”

“Maybe it has something to do with your little dream journal you got him.”

“It has to be. Either that or…” She closed her mouth and shook her head. “I don’t mean to compare you and Mike, but…”

“You’re worried that he’s following down the same path Jangles set me on.” He finished the sentence for her.

“I’ve tried to talk to him.” Jenny continued. “I’ve tried to get him to stop, but it only lasts until I turn my back and… I’m running out of ideas.”

“I’ll talk to him.” Paul assured her, hopping off the desk. “See if I can see what’s going on that big ol’ head of his.” He took a step towards her, but her head was pointed toward the floor. Paul took a seat next to her on the bed. “What else is on your mind?”

She bit down on her tongue, trying not to let tears fall from her eyes. “That day, when he flatlined… I thought I had lost him. I mean, it was no secret that we hadn’t been on the best of terms, but… thinking about never getting the chance to talk to him again…” Paul wrapped a consoling arm around his sister’s shoulder. “And then he came back. You know that I don’t really believe in a higher power or anything like that. But… it almost felt like it was a sign. Like… someone had hit the reset button and we could start anew. And in many ways, I do have the old Mike back. I’ll see him every once in a while, and I’ll be so grateful. But then he goes and shuts down every time I even talk about his oxy.”

“If this is what we are suspecting,” He told her. “Then it’s sort of beyond his control now. It’s his demons running the show. Not Mike. You’ll get him back.”

“I don’t know anymore, Paul.” She finally lifted her head to look at him, tears still trying their best to run from her eyes. “It almost seems like every time we get the chance to start over… something happens that pulls us apart. And… I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but… what if it’s the universe trying to tell us something.”

Paul hugged his sister, as she finally allowed the tears to fall. He pet her head gently, trying to soothe her the best he could. “I don’t have all the answers.” He replied softly. “I would like to believe that there is a reason to all this madness we put up with. But I do know this… we’re meant to fight for those we love. Even if they won’t fight for themselves. So Mike is going to need your nagging ass to keep him on the straight and narrow.”

Jenny chuckled slightly and pulled away from him, wiping her eyes dry. “I don’t nag.” She tried to say.

“Agree to disagree.” He smiled, brushing her hair out of her face. “I’ll talk to Mike. We’re not going to lose him again.”

>>>

Jenny wasn’t nosy. Okay, maybe she was a little nosy, but she liked to think it was because of how much she cared about people. Plus, she had a very strong sense of curiosity that was nearly like an alternate personality. It took over sometimes, no matter how often she fought it.

Which is why she found herself listening in just outside of Mike’s door. Paul was in there trying to get to the bottom of Mike’s odd behavior that had everyone in the house worried about him. Making sure she was out of sight, she strained her ears to listen to the conversation.

“I know you’ve been looking for a case.” Paul was telling Mike. “You find one yet?”

“Not yet,” came the defensive reply from Mike.

“People are worried about you, Mike.” Paul told him with concern.

“Yeah, I know. Are you one of those people?” Mike asked him coolly. “Or did Jenny send you in here for an intervention or something?” Jenny bit her tongue at the mention of her name, feeling a little defensive that he was being so dismissive about everything.

Paul sighed, as she heard Mike walk closer to his door. Jenny held her breath and pressed herself against the wall, hoping that Mike wouldn’t see her crouching and eavesdropping. “You know, man, there is something at play.” Paul explained. “It propels us, all of this, through space and time. And we don’t know its name. We never get to see its face. Most of us, like me, we just pick a dogma and pray we don’t end up burning. But you? You have touched that something. And… I’m thinking you got answers.”

There was a moment of silence, Jenny leaned in just a hair to make sure she was missing anything. The door slowly closed, so she had to press her ear up against it in order to hear. “I have answers,” She heard Mike say quietly. “I just don’t know what the questions are.”

Another pause before Mike started to explain his story. “I was home. In the foothills of the Adirondacks. And… I could smell the trees. Feel the spring chill. I had this sense that I needed to get to the tree line, so I started running. But before I got there, these birds just… took off.”

“Red ones?” Paul asked.

“Yeah,” Mike confirmed. “I didn’t even have to count. I just knew how many there were.”

“47.” He remembered seeing the number written all over his journal.

“When the birds cleared, I was at the tree line. There wasn’t a path. It was a tunnel. At the mouth of it, there was a grandfather clock. 10:10, that was the time. And then… I saw Jenny. And you and the doctors. I was back.” Jenny suddenly understood all the ramblings he had went on in the hospital. All his doodles and drawings in the journal she had given them. All of the details he was telling Paul, he had already told her or written them down. “These birds and the numbers… they mean something. And I was sent back here to figure out what.”

“Do you think you’ll find it in there?”

“Yeah, I have to.”

“Well, you go and chase those birds if that’s what you feel like you gotta do.” Paul told him. “But maybe, for Jenny’s sake at least, try not to do it while you’re getting shot at.”

Jenny heard someone make for the door, so she slipped back into the shadows. Paul exited the room, making his way back to his room. Jenny should have slunk back to her room, pretended like she didn’t hear any of it. But again, her alternate personality took over. Before she knew it, she was standing in Mike’s doorway, looking directly at him.

He lifted his head to look at her, but then bowed it again, rising to place the case file in his hand back on his desk. “I’m going to assume you heard everything.” He told her sheepishly.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Jenny questioned gently, trying to show him that she wasn’t angry at him.

“I just…” He turned around to face her, brushing his long hair out of his face. “I didn’t want you to think I was crazy.”

She glided towards him. “I don’t think that. I mean, no more than usual.” She offered a smile, but he didn’t return it. “Look, I don’t pretend to know or even understand what you saw. But… if this is something you feel like you need to do, then… you should do it. And I would like to help however I can.”

“No,” He shook his head. “You don’t have to…”

“No, I want to.” She insisted.

His damn puppy eyes locked onto hers. “Why?”

Jenny couldn’t stop the words from escaping her mouth if she wanted to. It was like a word vomit. “Because I love you.” She quietly admitted. He took a moment to let her words sink in. “I know, I know.” She tried to shrug off. “Now, I’m the crazy one.”

“No, you’re not.” He reached out and cradled her face within his hands. “I love you, too.”

She felt her heart swell up, as they leaned in for a kiss. Her hands held onto him as if she was about to lose balance and he was the only thing keeping her upright, even though her brain felt like it was swirling around like a ball. “So, please promise me,” She whispered to him as they pulled away and rested their foreheads against each other. “That you’ll stop counting chickens.”

He smiled. “I promise.”

>>>

Jenny, Paige, Mike, and Paul were all gathered in the living room, as Colby Moore laid out the plan to hoist Ari Adamian by his own petard. Colby had described what his life was like while he was under with Ari, which only fueled the fire that the house had to bring him down.

“So everything’s all set?” Paige asked.

“Yes,” Colby informed them. “I locked down the gas station and hotel last night, Paul’s got the bar.”

“The rest of these are public places,” Mike pointed out. “Lots of people coming and going.”

“I agree.” Jenny nodded. “There are a lot of moving parts here that we cannot control. If Ari doesn’t do what you want…”

“Start to finish, this takes 24 hours, Jenn.” Paul assured her. “I can control Ari for a day.”

“Yeah, but what about everybody else?” She countered.

“You weren’t kidding before,” Colby remarked to Paul. “She is a worrier.”

Jenny raised an eyebrow at him as Mike and Paige braced themselves, Mike was ready to hold her back if necessary. “Yeah, I am, Colby. This is my brother we’re talking about. Not just some rando. I'm going to worry about my brother's well-being and not apologize for it.”

“He understands that, sis.” Briggs motioned for her to calm down.

“Yeah, I meant no disrespect.” The man shrugged. “I’m just saying if we sit around contemplating the what ifs, we’ll never actually get anything done.”

“Okay, then answer me this, Paul.” Jenny turned to face her brother. “Let’s say everything goes according to plan, how do you imagine this ending?” Everyone else slowly turned to look at Paul, curious about what his answer was going to be.

“With Ari no longer a threat to the living.” He replied bluntly.

“Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of.” Jenny mumbled quietly.

“Hey!” Charlie entered the house, trailing a suitcase behind her. She had just returned from her mission with Amber in Florida, trying to hunt down Germaine. “Goddamn airlines, couldn’t flag down a taxi.” She looked to the newcomer in the living room. “Who’s this?”

“Colby Moore.” He stuck out his hand for her to shake as she introduced himself.

“The Bureau’s original sin-eater.” Paul explained. “We came up with a plan to get out from under Ari Adamian.”

“Whoa.” Charlie raised her eyebrows and scanned the maps that were spread out over the coffee table.

“But we need your help.” He told her.

“No.”

“Tonight.”

“Two cross-country flights in two days,” She grumbled. “Amber bitching about checking her into County, I’m done.”

“Yeah, Paul,” Jenny came to her friend’s rescue. “Don’t you think she can sit this one out? I think we got enough players in the game.”

Paul didn’t answer. He just flashed Charlie a pleading look, knowing full well that she was not about to miss out on whatever the plan was. “Goddammit.” She grunted, stamping her foot on the ground. Mike handed her a file that laid out the plan.

Johnny and Jakes entered the house at that moment. “Johnny, Dale, thank god you’re back.” Jenny greeted.

“Yeah, uh, Briggs,” Johnny looked to Paul uneasily. “Can I borrow you for a second, man? It’s kind of important.”

“The boy’s skydiving without a chute.” Dale added, giving Jenny a knowing look. Were they going to ask Paul for help with Carlito?

“Yeah, not now, Johnny.” Paul waved a dismissive hand.

“Yeah, but this kinda can’t wait.” Johnny pressed.

“Normally, I would move heaven and earth for you.” Paul told him. “But right now, I need to borrow you and Jakes for the next 24 hours.”

“Ari?” Jakes asked already knowing the answer.

“Ari.”

“I’m in.”

“Yeah, me too, I guess.” Johnny sighed.

Paul turned to the rest of the house. “Let’s go bag us a Sarkissian.”


	6. Plan

“Two Arak!” Ari shouted aggressively across the bar. Paul sat next to him, trying to finish out the rest of his beer.

Jenny rolled her eyes while her back was turned, but then flashed the gentlemen a flirty smile. “Coming right up, boys.” She told them, grabbing the bottle and pouring two shots out. The plan that Paul and Colby hatched to get Ari killed was underway. Jenny was playing the role of bartender to begin the night, while Paul entertained Ari and drank with him. The rest of the team was waiting for her text to send things into motion.

Again, making sure her back was turned to Ari, so he couldn’t see her movements, she withdrew a small syringe from her bra and injected the GHB drug mixture that Charlie and Paige had concocted back at Graceland. It was a hardcore sedative and they were ready dose him up. The goal was to get Ari to black out quickly, so they could enact the rest of their plan. After emptying out the contents of the syringe, she tucked it back into her shirt and painted on her fakest smile.

“Here we are, two Araks.” She said, as she placed the two drinks in front of the two men. “Don’t let it go straight to your head.”

“You no tell me how to drink.” Ari sneered at her, before turning to Paul. “Let’s drink.”

Jenny rolled her eyes and went about trying to busy herself with wiping down the car and restocking glasses. Soon enough, Paul left to “do laundry”, as he loudly announced. Jenny looked in his direction as he made an exit, leaving Ari to drink alone. Before leaving, Briggs lingered in the doorway and flashed his sister a reassuring wink. She gave him a nod, but secretly hoped that this master plan he and Colby had come up with would work out in their favor.

Ari kept ordering more drinks throughout the night, slowly falling prey to the alcohol and drugs she had spiked his drinks with. What annoyed Jenny the most was, even though the man treated women like shit when he was sober, he became less and less gentlemanly with every drink he downed. Dammit, when will this guy finally hit his limit?

He would light a match with his fingers to light the many cigarettes he smoked. And as the night wore on, he kept missing the ashtray to discard his matches. “Come on, man.” Jenny scoffed at him. “There is an ashtray for a reason. You’ll ruin my bar.” She swiped at the spot quickly with a rag and tried to scoop up the match with her hand, careful not to burn her fingers.

“I will kill you.” Ari muttered to her, his eyes having a difficult time focusing on her.

She smiled at him and leaned on the counter, looking him square in the eye. “I’m sure you could, tough guy.” She told him. “Another round, sir?”

“Yeah,” He nodded slowly, blowing smoke in her face.

“Coming right up.” She rolled her eyes. She placed another dose of the drug concoction in his drink, hoping that it would help speed things along. “As requested.” Jenny placed the drink in front of him. “Cheers.”

But soon, he was leaning heavily on the bar, barely about to form a sentence or keep his eyes open. That was the perfect time to text Paige to tell her to come out of the bathroom. Paige came out into the main room of the bar, wearing Layla Sarkissian’s red dress and ring that she had gotten from Colby, who was stashing Layla in a hotel for the night. Ari had been messing around with Layla, but had to keep it a secret from Martun Sarkissian, her father and head of the Sarkissian family. Paul wagered that if they could somehow convince Martun that Ari had killed Layla, then he would put Ari down and Paul could walk away from the case scott free. All the events that were to happen for the next 20 hours would hopefully lead them there. But of course, there were a lot of risks involved.

Paige adjusted her black-haired wig slightly and gave Jenny a nod. She then slunk over to Ari, as she tried to convince him that she was Layla. The man was so drunk, it took a minute to register that someone was even there. Jenny hovered slightly, making sure that Ari wouldn’t try anything funny.

“Do me in the desert.” She heard Paige whisper to Ari. _Damn, girl,_ she thought. Paige was able to hold Ari up enough to walk him out to the parking lot, Jenny followed close behind him. Ari was near blacking out, so he basically hung onto Paige. By the time, they made out to his car, Ari collapsed on the ground. Jakes, who was waiting in a car, hopped out upon seeing Paige and Ari walking out of the bar. Jenny came out a couple seconds later.

“Is he out?” Jakes asked, gently kicking at the now unconscious man.

“He should be. He drank like a fiend.”” Jenny commented. She then turned to Paige. “’Do me in the desert?’”

“What?” Paige acted innocent, as she took Layla’s ring and handed it to Jakes. “I improvised.”

“No, it was a nice touch.” Jenny smirked. “Side note, you look bomb in this dress." 

Paige smiled at the compliment and glanced down at the dress. It fit her perfectly for being someone else's. Her leg poked out of the high slit, as she searched Ari's pockets for his keys. "Yeah, maybe Layla will let me keep it." 

"Dale, can you help us get him in the car?” Jenny leaned down to pick up the unconscious man.

“What? Why do I have to?” He complained.

“Because he weighs like a ton of bricks, trust me.” Paige sighed, as they all reached down and lifted him into the back seat of his car. It took some grunting and rough shoving but they were eventually able to get the Armenian in the car successfully.

“Okay, that better be the worst it gets.” Jenny groaned, stretching out her back. She nodded to Dale. “You and Johnny know what to do next, right?”

“Yep.” He held up the ring as he repeated his part. “Johnny and me go up to Martun’s cabin and light some tires on fire. Charlie even found us some monkey bones to add to the pire.”

“And don’t forget someone has to be dragged.” Paige reminded him. “We want there to be a trail leading up to the fire.”

“Who’s going to volunteer to get dragged?” Jenny poked playfully at him.

“We’ll probably rock, paper, scissors it or something.” He shrugged, before turning back to his car. “See ya ladies back at Ari’s place.”

Paige and Jenny hopped into Ari’s car and drove off to meet Mike, Paul, and Charlie at the gas station that Colby had locked down for them. Jenny got in the driver’s seat and turned the ignition. “Jesus, this feels like an asshole car.” She groaned as they pulled out of the parking lot and onto the street.

“What is it with men and cars, anyway?” Paige asked, taking off the Layla wig and adjusting her hair. “They treat them better than women.”

“That’s because men are pigs, remember?” Jenny shrugged. “They’re the scum of the earth. That’s why God created women, so we could remind them of that and keep them in line.”

Paige chuckled. “Mike isn’t like that.” She teased.

Jenny rolled her eyes. “God, why is that I can never have conversation anymore without Mike’s name being dropped?”

“I’m just kidding. Don’t be so defensive.” She slipped out of the dress and returned to her normal outfit of t-shirt and jeans slowly, making sure to duck out of sight when undressing. “Tell me honestly, though, have you ever spiked a guy’s drink before tonight?”

Jenny giggled. “Only once. But he was a total douchebag, so he completely deserved it.”

“Don’t they all?”

“What about you, DEA? You ever had to spike a guy’s drink?”

“I could probably write a book about it one day.” She rolled her eyes and chuckled. But then she stole a glance towards her friend as they sped down the road. “Hey, I missed you.”

Jenny smiled widely. “I missed you, too.” Being angry at Paige, while completely justified, had completely drained Jenny. It hurt her to not talk or joke with someone she considered to be a sister. “The Thelma to my Louise.” She chuckled.

Soon, they pulled up to the gas station where Paul, Mike, and Charlie were waiting. “How’s the sleeping douchebag?” Charlie asked, as they got out of the car.

“Sawing logs and dreaming of objectifying women.” Paige told her. “Bitches get shit done.”

“Atta girls.” Charlie beamed proudly at the two women. Paige handed Charlie the tube of lipstick Paige had been wearing and the red dress for their next part of the plan.

“How’s laundry?” Jenny asked Paul teasingly.

He smiled at her. “The owner is paid and will vouch for me being there all night. And good news, no video cameras.” Doing laundry was going to be Paul’s alibi for Ari, claiming that he fell asleep in a 24-hour laundromat.

Jenny looked over at Mike, who was sporting a fake black eye. Part of the plan was to have Mike play the part of the gas station worker who Ari supposedly attacks in a drunken rage. “Oh, nice shiner.” She commented, twisted his head to the side so she could examine it closer.

“Charlie did a good job, right?” He shrugged.

“Yeah, I tell you what, though. If I ever come across the guy who did that to you, I’ll throw him in the back of my car.” Jenny joked.

Mike smiled and nodded towards Ari’s car. “I think you already did that.”

"Hm, so I did." She smiled and shrugged braggingly. “You’re welcome.” He reached and grabbed her around the waist to hold her close to him. It was odd being so affectionate in front of their housemates, considering how long they had tried to deny there was anything going on between them. But now, there was something almost liberating about it.

“Okay, lovebirds.” Paul cleared his throat, as Charlie and Paige giggled to each other. “Break it up. We still got a lot of boxes to check off tonight.”

“Fine,” Jenny acted like she was annoyed at her brother before placing a quick kiss on Mike’s lips. “I’ll see you soon.”

“Yeah, yeah, we get it.” Charlie was pulling Mike away to her car. “Come on, Romeo, we got a hotel room to trash.” Mike and Charlie were tasked with going to the hotel that Colby had also nailed down for them, to make it look like that was where Ari had killed Layla. Before the girls had arrived, Paul had gotten two copies of the hotel room key. One had given to Johnny to stash in the fire, the other he had given to Mike. Paul, Jenny, and Paige were going to make sure that a receipt was printed off from the gas station so it would lead Ari back there in the morning when he came to.

“Paige, you think you can play babysitter to our leading man?” Paul asked her as Jenny waltzed into the gas station.

“I charge by the hour.” She replied jokingly but agreed to stay by the car to make sure the man stayed asleep.

Paul went into the gas station, just as Jenny hopped the counter. “I’ve always wanted to do that.” She smiled as she went to the register. “Give me Layla’s credit card.”

Briggs removed the card from his pocket and slid it across the counter towards her. He had gotten from when he had acted like he was robbing Layla the other night. “So you will need to get a pack of Dunstons and some gasoline.” He reminded her as she fiddled with the register.

“How much gasoline did we want Ari to buy?” Jenny asked, trying to figure out what all the buttons were for.

“I think at least two gallons.” He said absentmindedly, looking over the stock of cigarettes. Dunstons were not Ari’s smoke of choice, but it was all according to plan. “So I assume you were listening to Mike’s story of enlightenment.” She paused in her movement and gave him a questioning glance. “Jenn, you may or may not remember, but we grew up together.” He defended. “I know that you can’t help but be nosy.”

“I prefer to think of it as caring a lot about people.” Jenny shrugged as she resumed her ringing up. As she swiped the card into the card reader, she paused. “Do you really think he saw what he thinks he saw?”

Her brother shrugged. “I don’t think it matters. What does matter is that Mike believes he did so… he’s going to try and pursue what it all means.”

“Yeah, but what if it’s all bullshit?” Jenny asked. “What if he keeps trying to find the answers to the birds and trees and shit, but nothing ever comes from it?”

“Then, we’ll be there for him when he needs us.” He supposed, grabbing a pack of Dunstons from the stack above him.

“What about his pills?” She asked timidly. “He’s still on them. He thinks I don’t know, but I know.”

“We’ll be there for him for that, too.” Paul told her as the receipt started to print out.

“Yeah, but how do I get him to stop? Chain him to the bed and smoke it out of him?”

“I think we’ll save that for the last resort kind of thing.” He reached over her and grabbed the receipt and placed it in his pocket for later. “Until then… maybe you can use… more creative tactics.”

Jenny raised an eyebrow at him. “What exactly are you trying to tell me, bro?”

They both started slowly for the door. “All I’m saying is, if you two are finally at a good place, there are ways that a woman can convince a man to do his bidding.”

She shuddered. “These seems like a really inappropriate conversation to have with your brother.”

Paul then left Paige and Jenny to go back to the laundromat, waiting for Ari to wake up and call him. Paige and Jenny drove over to Ari’s place, where they met up with Charlie and Mike once again. “How’s the hotel?” Jenny asked as they got out of their respective cars.

“A bit of a pig sty.” Charlie joked, as they all went about setting the scene for Ari to wake up. Jenny rammed the car into a pipe and the side of a garbage can, feeling an exhilarating feeling when the car came to a sudden halt.

“You enjoy that?” Mike asked, as she exited the car.

She winked at him. “Better than sex.”

Charlie groaned aloud. “Can you two please keep it your pants and focus? Mikey, help me get him in the driver’s seat.”

Jakes and Johnny pulled up to the scene, having just come from lighting a fire at Martun’s cabin. Johnny put the remaining gas tanks they had used in the trunk of Ari’s car, as Dale rushed over to help Charlie and Mike with Ari. He still weighed like a ton of bricks so getting him in was rather difficult. Jenny got the lipstick from Charlie and spread it over her lips, ready to wipe her mouth off on Ari’s shirt when they were ready. Johnny and Charlie spread some blood from the butchered pig that had been used to leave traces of blood in the hotel and smeared it on Ari’s clothes and face. Paige stuck Ari’s car keys in the trunk and broke off the key in the keyhole. They all moved like a pit crew at a racetrack. Or like well-choreographed dancers. Everyone knew that they had to do and went about doing it.

After Ari was successfully placed in the driver’s seat, Jenny wiped the lipstick on her lips on the collars of his shirt, trying not to gag at his awful stench of booze and cigarettes. Paige lit a match and held it between two of his fingers, letting the flame go down to the skin, making slight burn marks. But the man was so out of it, he did not stir from his slumber.

“Are we good?” Charlie asked the group, as they all looked at each other.

“Is he going be out for a while yet?” Johnny asked.

“Yeah,” Jenny nodded. “With all the GHB I gave him, he should be out for at least six more hours.”

“Easy enough.” Jakes shrugged.

“Ain’t nothing going to be easy about the next six hours, guys.” Charlie told them. “Mikey, you go to the gas station and wait for Paul and Ari. Johnny, Dale, you guys go stake out Martun.”

“Why do we have to?” Johnny whined.

“Because you decided to flake out on us for an entire day.” Jenny pushed him back gently. “I’ll let you know when Ari wakes up, but until then you need to do your job.”

“Thanks, John-boy.” Dale rolled his eyes at him. “That means you’re buying me coffee _and_ donuts.”

They all started to go their separate ways, but Jenny grabbed Mike’s hand before they could part. “Hey, you be careful, okay?” She told him. “I don’t think Ari is going to wake up feeling particularly generous.”

“Will you relax?” Mike soothed her. “Paul’s going to be there with Ari, so I’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, if Ari doesn’t shoot Paul on sight.” Jenny spat.

He placed a kiss on her forehead. “It's going to be fine. Now, go home and get some rest. I’ll see you soon.”

Jenny was tasked with monitoring the movement of cell phones of everyone at play when she got back to Graceland. Something told her she wasn’t going to get much sleep, knowing how risky everything was about this plan.

>>>

“Jenny!” Charlie shook Jenny awake.

Jenny snorted and raised her head off the counter, blinking around the room to refamiliarize herself with her surroundings. She was sitting on the island in the kitchen at Graceland, computer only inches away from where her head used to be. The thing was, Jenny didn’t remember falling asleep. “Wha…” A line of drool dripped from the corner of her mouth.

“Your computer is making noises, kiddo.” Charlie gestured toward the computer that was indeed blinking at her.

“Oh, shit.” Jenny suddenly remember that she was tasked with overseeing the operation. From her screen, she could tell that Ari was currently calling Paul. He was awake. Still groggy, she grabbed her phone to try and text Dale to let him know, but she was barely able to see the screen.

Charlie rolled her eyes. “I thought you said you weren’t going to sleep.” She went to pour the girl a cup of coffee.

“I wasn’t. But I think my eyes won the battle.” She groaned, struggling to send the text. “What time is it?”

“A quarter after 9.” Charlie informed her as she slid the coffee mug in her direction.

“Oh, god.” Jenny rubbed her eyes again. “I think I remember being up until around 5 or something. I wasn’t built for all-nighters.” She grabbed onto the mug drank it hungrily.

“You didn’t pull any all-nighters in college?”

“I was much younger then. And I had plenty of tequila to keep me going.” Jenny looked at her computer screen again, seeing that Paul was making his way towards Ari’s location. “What about you? You get a wink of sleep?”

Charlie shrugged. “A little. Not much.”

“Well, let's hope the coffee kicks in soon." She stretched and blinked a few times to help keep herself awake. "How was Florida?”

She sighed and rested her elbows on the counter. “Goddamn Amber had me driving up and down the entirety of South Florida looking for a Reggie. Turns out the guy’s name was Randy. Dumb bitch nearly got us killed, but we were able to make a deal with Randy’s people.”

“Any sign of that asshole Germaine?”

“Not yet. But if we can keep a steady relationship going with Randy and them, we will make our way up the ladder.”

Jenny hesitated before asking the next question. “And uh… how you holding up?” it had been a couple days since their night trip to the family clinic. They hadn’t had much time to talk about it since.

Charlie swallowed thickly. She hadn’t gone through with the abortion. Sitting in the waiting room, she realized that she couldn't go through with it. But she hadn’t told anyone. She didn’t want Paul to find out, because he would force her off the Germaine case. “I’m not some fragile little bird, kiddo.” She shrugged, sipping at her coffee.

“I’m not saying that. I just… I know how hard it must have been…”

“Do your job, Jenn. Quit worrying about me. I’m going to go hide out the hotel, in case Paul needs back up.” She hastily made her exit before Jenny could pry further.

When she was left alone again, Jenny watched the screen, slapping her face to stay awake. Even though she had practically inhaled the cup of coffee, she was still immensely groggy. The screen soon told her that Ari and Paul had met up and were on their way to the gas station. She sent Mike a text telling him to be ready.

But almost the second she pressed the send button, her phone rang, startling her. But what startled her even more was the name that was on display on her phone screen. Trevor Langely.

Feeling the grogginess disappear almost immediately, Jenny glanced around the room to make sure no one was around. Then she answered the phone. “Hello.”

“Jenny, my dear.” He greeted warmly. So far, so good. “How are you this morning?”

“Tired.” She replied coldly, wanting to skip the formalities. “What’s the latest?”

“Oh, you haven’t heard? That’s surprising, considering what’s all over the FBI’s soundboard.” He said knowingly.

“I didn’t have anything to do with that.” Jenny said. “Look, the job got done. That’s all that counts at this point.”

A deep chuckle echoed in the phone. “Oh, no, that’s not the only thing that counts.” Trevor sneered into the phone.

“Yes, it is.” She insisted, again glancing around to make sure she was alone. Still, she lowered her voice. “I paid you for a service, and that service was carried out by something beyond our control. Sid had a lot of enemies.” Her thoughts turning to Johnny.

“Indeed, that is true. But remember when I told you I don’t give out refunds?”

“What, are you joking?” Jenny gasped. “You can’t just accept money from a job you didn’t do.”

“Oh, no, I fully intend on fulfilling my end of the bargain. But this is where some… _creativity_ is going to come into play.”

“What does that mean?” She asked, feeling an uneasiness settle in her stomach.

“It means I don’t give out refunds. But I’m not a thief that takes money from people without performing a service for them. So here’s the deal, Agent Briggs. I am still under your advisement. All you have to do is tell me your target.” Langely’s voice sounded boastful and confident.

“My target is dead.”

“That’s why you need to pick a new one.”

“No, I won’t.” Jenny snapped at him. “You can keep the money. I don’t want anything from you anymore.” She wanted to hang up the phone, but he quickly spoke up to stop her.

“I wouldn’t do that, if I were you.” He warned menacingly.

“Why not?”

“Because the FBI soundboard is full of theories. Not only are they saying that Sid Markham was shot, but they say that he was shot by a federal agent. Apparently, the bullets that killed him came from a government issued glock.” Jenny felt like she wanted to puke. “So chances are, the person who killed your target was one of your own.”

“That’s just conspiracy theories.” She tried to deny. “That has about the same clout as the Magic Bullet.”

“Well, no matter.” He replied. “The point is… either you tell me your next target, or I go after the agent that killed your original one.” Jenny covered her mouth to keep from screaming. If Langley was as good as advertised, it was only a matter of time before he discovered Johnny’s involvement.

“You’re bluffing.” Jenny said timidly.

“I assure you I’m not, Jenny. But I’m also not an unreasonable man. You probably need time to think over my proposal. I will give you until the end of the week, Saturday night to be specific, for you to make your decision. If I don’t hear from you, I’ll start my own investigation. Until then.” He promptly hung up the phone, leaving Jenny feeling panicked and guilty. She should have never gotten mixed up with a hitman in the first place. She should have listened to her gut and walked away before things got too rough. But now here she was, faced with an impossible decision.

Jenny sat in the kitchen for a long time, monitoring the movement of all the players in the field, but could not focus on any of it. Who would she choose? How could she choose? How could she be expected to play God? No way was she going to risk Johnny’s life, but how was she supposed to sentence someone else to die.

Soon, her cell phone rang again. This time it was Charlie. “Hey, kiddo. I’m at the hotel with Ari and Paul.” She reported. “I just saw Ari pull a gun on him and take him inside the room. They’ve been in there for over an hour.”

Jenny felt like her cup was overflowing with problems. “Have you heard any gunfire?” She asked, trying to keep her cool.

“No, it’s all been quiet.” She stated, the worry in her tone was unmistakable. “I’m going to try and get a closer look.”

“Don’t be too anxious.” Jenny pressed, listening on the phone like her life depended on it.

“I am anxious, Jenn.” She snapped. “They’ve been in there forever and now it’s just silent.”

After a pause, Jenny started to fear the worst. “Charlie? Mama, you still there?”

“Yeah, I’m still here.” She spoke softly in the phone. “They’re just leaving the hotel.”

“What’s happening?”

“They’re walking towards Ari’s car. And… oh, god, Ari is waving his gun at him. They’re getting in the car now.”

“I’m going to call in back up.” Jenny shook her head.

“Oh, wait, shit.” Charlie said into the phone before dropping it to the ground.

Jenny stood up and paced the floor. “Charlie? Charlie?” There was a long pause. “Charlie, answer me.”

“They’re gone.” Charlie finally answered her. “Paul just drove them both away, I couldn’t stop ‘em.”

Jenny collapsed to the ground. What else could go wrong?

>>>

Most of the house was back at Graceland sitting the living room, holding their breath while they waited for some word from Paul. He had not been seen or heard of since Charlie saw him ride off with Ari Adamian.

Johnny was on the phone with a contact trying to see if anyone had heard from him. No one wanted to put out a missing report on him just yet. Jenny sat staring at the ground, still as a statue. “No hospitals, no coroner’s office.” Johnny reported as he got off the phone. Jenny closed her eyes, as Mike, who was sitting next to her, rubbed her back.

“Any trace on his cell?” Dale asked the room.

“I’ve already told you, Dale.” Jenny snapped at him. “He left his cell back at the hotel room.”

“Ari probably made him dump it before making him leave.” Charlie shook her head slowly.

“It’s been six hours,” Johnny shook his head. “And still nothing.”

“You need to put out a BOLO on him.” Paige said in monotone. “Get agents in on the search.”

“Yeah, but if we put out a BOLO,” Dale pointed out. “Then we gotta explain our involvement. All of our involvement. So maybe we just give him some time.”

“How much time?” Mike asked.

“Ari took him, Jakes.” Jenny snapped at him again. “He’s not blowing off steam somewhere.”

“He’s going to be okay.” Mike tried to tell her.

She shrugged off his hands and stood up. “No one gets to lie to me! I don’t want to hear a single drop of pity from anyone of you until we find my brother.”

The door opened then. They all turned to look to see who had just entered the room, and a wave of relief washed over them as they saw Paul cross the threshold.

“Oh, thank God.” Charlie stood up.

Jenny ran over to him and hugged him close, letting her tears roll down her face. He held her, allowing himself to feel some sense of relief after the emotional day that he had. “You told me you wouldn’t go disappearing on me again.” Jenny hopped away from him and punched him in the arm. “What the hell happened to you? Where have you been?”

“Uh,” It was then that everyone noticed the haunted look in his eye. “The plan didn’t go as planned.” They all sensed the seriousness of what he was about to say. “Colby’s dead, guys.”

Jenny stepped away from him and covered her mouth in shock. All the housemates felt their hard work of the last 24 hours all went to waste. “It was perfect…” Paul told them. “The plan was perfect, right up until the end and then… Ari figured it out. We burned the fingers on the wrong hand.” Paige, who had lit the match, sat up straight, feeling the shame wash over her. “Ari got onto it. He convinced Martun that Colby was trying to frame him. Martun stripped Colby naked and tortured him to death. Battery acid.”

“Jesus.” Dale muttered.

“He never gave me up.” Paul shook his head and stared at the ground, as Jenny tried to process everything. “Right up until the end.”

“So he murdered Colby.” Johnny repeated. “Bring Sarkissian in.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“How isn’t that simple?” Johnny questioned, as the rest of the house hung their heads in disappointment. Here went Paul on his holy crusade.

“We don’t have enough evidence to pin him to the murder.” Briggs explained. “But rest assured, we’re going to bring his ass in, one way or the other.”

“Um, who’s ‘we’?” Dale asked.

Paul tried his best to maintain his cool as he spoke. “DJ, if we walk away now, Martun skates.” Jenny let out a rueful chuckle.

“The whole point of this,” Charlie spoke up. “Was to get you away from Ari.”

“But Martun killed Colby,” Paige argued.

“No, P. We killed Colby.” Johnny spat at her. “We killed him with this stupid-ass plan.” He turned to face Paul. “I love you, man. But if you keep running on this, it’s on you. I’m out.”

“This isn’t about me.” Briggs tried to say.

“No, it is.” Jenny finally spoke with enough venom to kill a giant. “It is all about you, Paul. The only reason why we agreed to this plan was because of you and the shit you’ve got yourself into.”

“We don’t do our jobs anymore.” Jakes chimed in. “We don’t bust bad guys anymore. Something’s not working.”

“Which is precisely why we need to stay the course, DJ.” Briggs defended. He looked around the room for support, but the only one giving him any support was Paige. “Now, look Logan was ready to pull the plug, but no. No, I say perp walks and cavity searches for all those bitches.”

“Wait, hold on,” Jenny shook her head. “Pull the plug… You had an out?” She remembered when he had told them that he was being forced into the Sarkissians against his will.

“Why didn’t you take it?” Charlie questioned.

“Because then we wouldn’t have justice, Chuck.”

“Justice?” Mike, who had been very quiet, finally spoke up. “When do we ever have justice? Everything we do ends up with a body. This has got to stop.”

One by one, each one of the roommates left the room. Paul tried to plead with them to stay, but no one listened. He reached out to try and appeal to Jenny. “Jenn, please, I….”

“Paul, don’t.” She withdrew her hand away from him and glaring at him. “You… you had an out and you didn’t… I’m tired of all these bodies piling up, Paul. I can’t. I just can’t.” She ran up the stairs to lock herself in her room.

Paige was the only one who stayed behind. “I’m in. What’s the plan?”


	7. Chase

Mike spent the next few days holed up in his room, researching the meanings behind his birds, clocks, and trees “vision” he had when he flatlined. Jenny would check on him every once in a while, but she let him work. She figured if he was stationary, and not out in the field he would be safe. Plus, she knew that not knowing what everything meant was driving him crazy. So everyone let him dive headfirst into it.

Jenny kept scouring the internet for possible targets for Langley. Police reports, most wanted lists, anything that could tell her about bad people. But she still felt icky trying to pick who to sentence to death. She had also been holed up in her room, mostly trying to avoid Paul. But did come out of her room, when she needed a break. Things were still sort of tense around Briggs, but most of the tension was able to die down after a few days.

One morning, however, caused everyone to rush out of their rooms. The fire alarm.

The high pitched shrill echoed over the entire house, Jenny stumbling out of her room, tying a bathrobe around her. “What is that?” She asked, as Johnny and Paige also poured out of their rooms.

“I don’t know, but it better be an actual fire.” Dale grumbled as they all went down the stairs, smelling smoke.

“What the hell is happening?” Jenny shouted over the loudness of the alarm and blinking through the smoke. She was able to see Charlie and Paul rummaging around the oven, waving furiously at it.

“It’s fine.” Charlie tried to say calmly. “It’s nothing.”

“Someone please turn that thing off.” Johnny whined and shielded his ears from the alarm that was still blaring. “Before my ears start to bleed.”

“Smoke alarms at the ass crack of dawn is not fine, Chuck.” Dale said, as he raised a broom towards the high ceiling, trying to shut off the alarm.

“Yeah, it’s 6 am, Charlie!” Jenny whined, grabbing a magazine and waving violently at the air.

“It’s 6 am, and you decide to cook….” Paige looked at the sink, where Paul had dumped the burning food from the oven. “Tuna casserole?”

Johnny examined the dish with her. “Chuck, are you freakin’ serious?”

“Guys, I’m tired,” Charlie defended. “And I’m sick of airplane food. So forgive me for wanting a decent breakfast.”

“Tuna casserole is not a decent breakfast.” Jenny shouted. “Dale, shut it up.”

“What do you think I’m doing?” He grunted, still waving the broom wildly at the ceiling. Until finally, he hit in a way that quieted the alarm. Everyone breathed out a sigh of relief and exited to the living room, where the smoke wasn’t as bad.

“Thank you!” Paul told Dale.

“Tall-ass ceiling,” The man mumbled as he put the broom away.

“Charlie, what were you thinking?” Jenny groaned, adjusting to the sound of non-alarm.

“I think you need to slow down a little.” Paige added, as they collapsed on the couch.

“No,” Charlie shook her head firmly. “I have to get Germaine. There’s no slowing down.”

“You know,” Paul told her, as he also took a seat. “Running yourself ragged and nearly burning the house down isn’t exactly going anywhere fast, Charlie.”

“Yeah, well…” She started to say, but Mike came rushing down the stairs in a frenzy.

“Guys, I found it.” He announced excitedly, as he placed a case file on the coffee table and sat on the floor across from them.

“Good morning, Mike.” Paige mumbled.

“Is this about your crazy birds and numbers?” Jakes asked as he came into the room.

“He’s not crazy, Dale.” Jenny snapped at him.

“I didn’t say he was crazy,” He objected. “But these birds and numbers is getting a little crazy.”

“None of it’s crazy.” Mike said, laying out the file in front of him. “I’ve been upstairs working on this for the past couple days.”

“It’s…” Paige spoke up. “It’s been ten days.”

“Just listen.” He pleaded. “I’ve been tracking an exchange on DarkMarquet.”

Jenny sat up straight at the name. “Whoa, Mike. DarkMarquet?”

“You know it?” Johnny asked.

“Yeah, it’s like the gateway drug to the dark web.” She turned back towards Mike. “You didn’t tell me you were on there.”

He shrugged. “Look, let me finish. It’s an undisclosed parcel pickup here in Los Angeles between two parties: VinXXX and Huma9. So, VinXXX. ‘V’ is the shape the clock hands make at 10:10. And X…”

“Roman number for 10.” Paul finished for him. The rest of the house were secretly exchanging worried glances as Mike went on.

“But Huma9 is the real prize. The huma is a mythological creature. It’s the Persian version of the phoenix. And when this bird rises from the ashes, I’ll give you one guess as to what color it is.”

“Red.” Jenny guessed.

“Yeah,” Mike paused and looked around at his housemates, seeing the look of worry on their faces. “Look, I know it’s a stretch. And I wouldn’t have even dug in until this. VinXXX got pickup details this morning. His parcel is on a container ship and the shipping container that it’s in is number 11-47-11.”

“47.” Briggs nodded.

“Yeah, it’s all here.” Mike produced his dream journal to show everyone. “47. The red birds. Even the clock hands." He again looked around the room, hoping that everyone would be just as blown away by the coincidences as he was. But everyone was not as astonished. Instead, they all looked like they were debating on who was going to brin him back to reality.

“Okay…” Paige slowly stood up and spoke carefully. “It’s just… It’s a little early for all of this.” She gestured to his files. “I’m going to make you a proper breakfast, Charlie.” She held out her hand and helped Charlie to her feet, as the two of them slipped into the kitchen.

“Yeah, when your birds and numbers turn into an actual case,” Dale nudged Mike in the shoulder. “Call me, man.”

Johnny yawned and stretched as he stood up. “Yeah and I got other shit to do.” The two men went back upstairs, leaving Paul, Mike, and Jenny alone in the living room.

“What do you think?” Mike asked Jenny.

Jenny blinked rapidly. “I don’t really know, Mike. I think Paige was right. It’s too early for all this.”

“You said you wanted to help.” He argued.

“I do,” She assured him. “But… what you have here… it’s all circumstantial.”

“I know. But that’s why I need your help. The ship docks at 7 tonight. If we can see what this pickup is maybe we can get something solid on this guy.”

She reached over and placed a hand over his. "Can we just... take a moment to think about this?" 

He stared back at her, not bothering to hide his hurt. "I'm not crazy, Jenn."

"I know, and I'm not saying you are. But just take a step back for a moment. You think that the reason why you saw birds is that they were leading you to a package pickup?" Paul could only sit quietly and observe the exchange between them, like he was studying their behavior in a lab. 

"It's all there." Mike insisted, opening up his notebook again to show her. "Everything I saw is right here in front of me. Isn't that worth something?"

“Look, Mike,” She covered her mouth as she yawned. “I’m going to need to press pause on this conversation until after I’ve had a cup of coffee.” She rose to her feet and patted his shoulder reassuringly. "Maybe when I'm caffeinated, I can see what you see." Jenny disappeared into the kitchen, trying to figure out how to get Mike to see how crazy he sounded without actually calling him crazy.

“It’s impressive, Mike.” Briggs commented, as Mike started to gather up the file. “But you know that you can’t take that to the FBI.”

“No, not yet.” He conceded. “And if Jenny's not going to help me, then I need _your_ help, Briggs. Will you come with me tonight to stake out the docks?” 

“Yeah, I’ll be there.” Briggs agreed.

>>>

“So you’re going to the docks with him?” Jenny asked Paul, who was on the phone with her as she drove.

“Yeah, I figured one of us has to be there with him.” Her brother said. From what she could hear, he was walking around outside, his breath somewhat labored. “He was really hoping it would be you, though.”

She rolled her eyes. “Paul, you and I both know that this whole pickup thing is a very big stretch. So his whole divine intervention thing had ‘sent him back’ to look out for a pickup at the docks?”

“Yeah, it’s a big leap.” He grunted as set something down.

She couldn't help but ask. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Oh, just changing a tire." He told her coolly. "It's funny, too, because I was just going to bring the car to change out these tires."

Luckily for him, Jenny bought it. “You just need to keep an eye on him. Don’t let him get too crazy with this.”

“And may I ask, why you are not here to do that?” Paul questioned.

Jenny pulled up to the coffee shop that she had agreed to meet Trevor Langley at. A different one than the one they had met at before. “Because I’ve got my own shit to deal with.” She replied vaguely. “Paul… do you think the reason why Mike’s so obsessed with this bird thing is because of the pills?”

She heard her brother hesitate. “Highs don’t normally manifest into obsessions, Jenn. But I can keep a close watch, see if I can pick up on any warning signs.”

“Thanks, Paul.” Jenny looked out her window to see Langley sitting at one of the patio tables. “I gotta go. But let me know what you guys find out. As crazy as it all is, I did tell Mike I would help him.”

She promptly hung up the phone and exited the car, making a beeline over to Langley. Her stomach twisted in knots as she got nearer to him. She took a seat across from him without giving him a smile. “Hello, Trevor.”

“Jenny,” He flashed her a handsome and cool smile, despite her coldness towards him. “Long time, no see.”

She rolled her eyes and withdrew a zip drive from her pocket, slamming it down on the table. “This is all I could find on him.”

“Yeah, about your new target…” He leaned back in his chair as he spoke. “You didn’t pick an easy one.”

“You didn’t ask for an easy one.” She shrugged. “You wanted to make a choice and I made one.”

“But Odin Rossi?” Langely asked, nodding towards the zip drive. “Even you guys with the badges couldn’t find him. What makes you think I will?”

“Because that’s what I’m paying you for.” Jenny replied, trying to remain as level-headed as possible. She still had a hard time believing that she had selected a target for him, let alone one someone of such high caliber.

Trevor searched her face. “Sounds to me, like you’ve got me chasing a ghost.”

“A ghost that has caused a lot of trouble for me and those I care about. Now, do you or do you not think you can complete this mission? Or should I contact your former clients to tell them that you aren’t as good as you say you are?” She asked him forcefully.

He sat up slightly. “You know my clients?”

“I’m a technical analyst, remember?” She raised an eyebrow at him. “I found out all your dirt in a matter of minutes. Finding your client list won’t be that hard either.”

He smirked at her. “You know, in another life, you would have made a great asset to my side of the tracks.” Jenny tried not to lash out at him for saying that. She didn’t want to be one of the bad guys. That’s why she signed up for the Bureau in the first place. But this… this didn’t feel like a good thing. Trevor took the zip drive and shoved it in his pocket. “Same arrangement as before? No contact until the job is done?”

“No,” Jenny shook her head. “I want updates of every break in the case you make.”

“Why the change of heart?”

“Because we could never find him, remember? I want to know who he is, if he’s going to get knocked off the totem pole.”

He nodded in agreement. “Deal. Pleasure doing business with you, Agent Briggs.”

>>>

“Got him.” Jenny flipped her computer around for Paul and Mike to see. They were sitting in the phone room, Mike and Paul having just returned from staking out the pickup spot. Mike had caught pictures of the kid who picked up the parcel, so Jenny was able to run facial recognition software to locate information on him. It was the least that she could do, having not been with him for the pickup. She still had not disclosed the real reason why she didn't. “Gusti Kadek Pendit.”

Mike and Paul leaned forward to see the screen. “Looks like he got his green card about three years ago.” Mike read aloud. “He’s from Manggis, Bali. He’s Indonesian.” 

“Uh, Balinese, to be exact.” Briggs corrected.

“Bali’s an Indonesian island.” He pointed out.

“Yes, same country, but separate people.” Paul countered. “Bali got its own culture, own history…”

“Okay, boys,” Jenny rolled her eyes. “You’re both smart. Move on.”

“Fine, he’s Balinese.” Mike shrugged as he scrolled down the rap sheet in front of them. “He’s also a repeat offender.”

“Mm-hm.” Paul read over the man’s shoulder, as Jenny rose to her feet so she could look on the screen too. “Trespassing, petty theft, vandalism.”

“Wait, hold on,” Jenny pushed Mike’s hand out of the way to keep him from scrolling further. “Does that say American Stunt Academy?”

Mike nodded. “Yep.” 

“Our boy wants to be in the pictures.” Paul chuckled.

“Mm, says he flunked out.” Jenny reported.

“Twice.” Mike added.

“You’ve got a real winner here, Mikey.” She commented.

Paul leaned back in his chair and nudged Mike. “So we have got a Balinese immigrant who can’t take a punch. What are you thinking?”

“Honestly?” Mike scratched his chin thoughtfully. “I say if I flash any cash, then he’s my best friend.”

“Whoa, whoa, wait.” Jenny held up a hand. “You’re saying you want to go under with him? That was not disclosed to me.”

“I need to see what’s in that package he picked up, Jenn.”

“So arrest him.” She suggested. “You don’t have to go under.”

“We have no reason to arrest him, sis.” Paul pointed out. “He was sent to pick up a package and that’s not a crime. But you know, he is a grifter, Mike. If you show up loaded, he may see you more as a mark than a friend.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Mike nodded slowly. “So I come in at his level.”

“Or maybe below.”

“Hold the phone, boys.” Jenny interrupted again. “I’m still not comfortable sending you in, Mike.”

“I’ve been cleared for duty for over a week now.” Mike rolled his eyes at her.

“Yeah, but you’re still swallowing oxy on a regular basis.” Jenny argued. “That’s not exactly fit for the field.”

He scoffed dismissively. “Only when the pain flairs up. Look, Jenn. Everything has lead to me this case. All the answers I’ve been searching for are all pointing to this kid. I can’t just sit it out.”

Jenny closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. “There’s no talking you out of this, is there?”

“Nope.”

“I really hate your stubbornness.”

“I know,” He smiled triumphantly. Then he turned to Paul. “You want to run this with me?”

“Jakes has been looking for a real case.” Briggs suggested. “Time to tell him shit just got real.” He stood up to leave the room.

“Where you going?” Jenny asked him.

“It’s been over a week since I’ve seen our boy, Ari.” He replied pausing in the doorway. “I’m going to pay him a visit.”

“Do you really think that’s wise?” Jenny crossed her arms. “You said he nearly shot you the last time you saw him.”

“Maybe I’ll just win him over with my infamous charm and wit.” He shrugged before disappearing through the doorway.

“Well, I’ll give him this,” Mike had to chuckle. “He sure is confident.”

“Yeah, he’s also an idiot.” Jenny rolled her eyes. “He told me the same exact thing when he tried sneak into a bar when he was 18. His 'infamous charm and wit' nearly got us both arrested.”

Mike stood up and slipped a beanie over his head. “Well, I better go sweet talk Jakes.”

“Wait, you’re going now?”

“Yeah, Gusti is at a bowling alley now,” He explained. “I want to try to get in that trunk before he has to meet up with Huma9.”

Jenny sighed. “What if it’s nothing? What if there is no master plan at work here? From what I could tell on his file, this kid isn’t what I would call a big-timer.”

“Only one way to find out.” He finished adjusted the hat over his head and gestured to himself. “How do I look?”

She scanned over him with a smile. “Well, with the beanie, scruffy chin, and the shabby clothes, if you add some dark rimmed glasses, you would absolutely nail the English major vibe.”

He grinned at her and placed a kiss on her lips. “So is that your way of saying I look good?”

“Well, I just happen to love English majors.” She shrugged innocently, giving him a gentle kiss. she wished more than anything that she could find some way to talk him out of pursuing this. She didn't want him to chase a wild theory just for it to end up being nothing. But Mike was determined to see it through. And she knew she couldn't stop him. "Now, go chase your birds." She gently pushed him towards the door. "Just remember to come back to me when you're done."

"Always," He flashed her a reassuring mega-watt smile before slipped through the door. Jenny watched him go, hoping that he was going to be alright.


	8. Trouble

“Jenny?” The young red-haired man regarded Jenny in awe, as he entered the large conference room seeing her in one of the chairs.

“Dalton,” She greeted warmly. “Long time, no see, eh?”

“No kidding,” He looked around the room, noticing the white boards along the walls, and many different power outlets on the big table at the center. “What’s going on?”

“Whoa, this is like the twilight zone.” A woman entered the room, wearing large glasses and sporting pigtails with large ribbons in her hair. “Oh, my gosh, hey. Jenn.” She greeted happily when she saw her. “Oh, my god, and is that Dalton Cummings?”

The red haired man blushed. “Hey, Sammy.”

“Well, this is really weird.” Another man walked into the room. He was dressed like a business man, suit jacket and tie, carrying a briefcase. “And here I was expecting a job interview.”

“In a sense it is, Warner.” Jenny stood up and gestured to the plush seats around the table. “If we could all have a seat, I would like to explain what’s happening here.”

“So, you got that weird message too?” Sammy pointed to Warner as they sat.

“It wasn’t a weird message.” Jenny tried to say.

Warner snickered. “Jenn, it only gave a time and location with a secret code embedded into it. It was pretty weird.”

“I just wanted to make sure you haven't lost your touch.” She shrugged. In their youth, this group of 4 tech-savvy individuals were very good friends. They all had bonded over one thing: their love of computers. They used to think of themselves as tech superheroes, taking from the rich to give to the less fortunate. In her hour of need, and since she didn't want to involve her roommates, Jenny had reached out to her old team, to see if they would help her. “It’s good to see all of you again. It’s been a long time.”

“Yeah, practically lifetime.” Warner muttered. "So is this some high school reunion bullshit or have you come to apologize for walking out on us all those years ago?"

“Warner,” Jenny rolled her eyes at him. “You didn’t have to come today. And I’m not going to force any of you to stay.”

“What’s happening, Jenn?” Dalton asked, wringing his hands. “I’m getting nervous.”

Jenny took a deep breath before addressing the small group of people. “If you recall, we were once a powerhouse of genius. True, it's been a while since the gang's done something together. But... something has come up. I might have found myself in some murky waters, and I thought it was about time to reunite the team again.”

“The team that you left behind.” Warner shrewdly pointed out. Jenny and Warner had not always got along. Despite what either of them would say, they were very similar in personality. Most often, they were the two that always fought, which would cause Sammy to intervene and resolve the issues. Sammy was the positive and bubbly one of the group. If she was more athletic, she might have made a killing as a cheerleader.

“Warner, knock it off.” Sammy scolded him, assuming her role as mediator yet again.

“No, he’s right.” Jenny nodded. “I did leave you guys behind, and with not much warning. But the Bureau wanted to recruit me, and my brother was just about to graduate from the Academy… I am sorry if I hurt you. Any of you.”

Sammy waved a hand. “That’s so yesteryear. I’ve been working with an app developing company for years now. I love it.”

“And we still don’t know why you called us here?” Dalton reminded everyone. He was the quiet, yet reasonable one. Always kept the group focused and on track.

“I have problem.” Jenny told them. “And I could go into the long and dramatic story of how it all came to be, or I can sum it up by saying: I need your help… to find a ghost.”

Warner laughed and leaned on the table. “A ghost?”

“The ghost’s name is Odin Rossi,” Jenny continued. “Bureau’s most elusive drug lord. No one has ever seen him, talked to him, captured him on camera. Feds have been trying to lay the bust on him for a while now, and they barely have enough for a profile. By my extensive searching, he doesn’t exist. But I know he does.”

“And how do you know that?” Dalton questioned.

“Because he nearly destroyed my brother’s career and almost killed people that I deeply care about." She answered, as she passed out the brief profile her and Mike had put together nearly a year ago. "And we need to find him fast.”

“What’s the rush?” Sammy sat up straight.

Jenny hesitated. “I sent a hitman after him. Again, I could bore you with the soap opera surrounding the reasons why that occurred but it will only take up time. I want to find Odin Rossi before this hitman does. And if we can, then I want to lay trap for both of them.”

Sammy smiled. "Cool!"

Warner stood up abruptly. “So you’re trying to drag us into your bullshit, is that it?”

She scoffed. “Warner, I didn’t say boo when we helped bail your mom out of jail. Or when we put that virus on you ex’s computer.”

“We’ve all helped each other out in some way,” Sammy spoke up. “Jenny, you can count me in.”

“Sammy, don’t be so eager to help out.” Warner groaned. “I’ve got a life now. I can’t just drop everything for her.”

“We all have lives.” Dalton spoke up. “Jenny has helped us out many times over. I know I still owe her many favors. I’m in, too, Jenn.”

“Oh, come on.” He gestured to the group. “This isn’t some summer camp reunion.”

“Warner, if you want to leave, then leave.” Jenny snapped.

“Don’t mind if I do.” He picked up his briefcase to leave.

“Wait, Warner.” Sammy pleaded him, making him stop in his tracks. “Come on, it’ll be just like old times. Please? For me?” As much as she was the cheerleader and mediator of the group, Sammy was also like the baby. They all would move heaven and earth for her. Even after all these years.

Warner looked at Sammy, who jutted her bottom lip at him. He rolled his eyes. “I can’t believe that still works.” He mumbled as he fell back into the chair. “Okay, Jenn. Where do we start?”

>>>

Johnny was distraught. He had finally arrested Carlito Solano and freed Lucia. The thing that he had been fighting for weeks now. But when she had earned her freedom, she ended things with Johnny. He tried to talk her out of it, but there was no changing her mind. It was over. When he got home, he was beyond depressed. Paige and Jenny knew just how to cheer him up. So that’s how they found themselves at The Drop, their favorite bar. Paul and Dale had joined the three of them, in hopes to celebrate the end of the Solano era. Charlie was just coming back from Florida, and Mike was still out with his kid with the mysterious package. But they were both on their way according to texts.

“Come on, J.T.” Jenny nudged him as he sat resting his chin on the table, staring blankly at the beer in front of him. “Lighten up a little. You finally got Carlito. That’s a good thing.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t get Lucia, did I?” He mumbled so quietly she could barely hear him over the blaring music of the bar. Jenny looked around the table to Paige, Dale, and Paul, wondering if they had any advice to give. But they were all sympathetic. Johnny had truly fallen for Lucia. Everything he had done had been for her. And it ended up backfiring on him. Even with all their collective knowledge, no one knew how to offer advice to him. 

Luckily, Charlie walked in, looking exhausted from her trip. “Ah, there she is!” Jenny greeted happily.

“Straight from the airport?” Paul asked as she joined the group.

“You know it.” She grabbed Johnny by the shoulders as he lifted his head to greet her. “I love you more than my bed, you know that right?”

“I know,” He smiled slightly and allowed her to kiss the top of his head.

“And that’s why we love you.” Paige handed her a beer, as the two of them drank happily.

“To our beloved J.T.,” Paul raised a shot glass in the air. “The only one of us in too damn long who actually put cuffs on the guy he was chasing.”

“Cheers!” The group all hollered and raised their glasses in solidarity of their friend. Johnny nodded his thanks as he took a shot.

“So, am I the only who thinks this kid needs to get back on the horse?” Charlie asked the group with a smile.

“Thank you!” Jenny gestured to her and rested a hand on Johnny’s shoulder. “That’s what I’ve been telling him.”

Dale gestured to one of the waitresses. “John-boy, that one has been checking you out all night, man.”

“No, no,” He shook his head. “I’m good.”

“Boo,” Jenny teased him.

“The heart needs time to heal?” Paige asked.

“It’s just too soon.” Johnny replied.

“Well, time heals some wounds.” Briggs shrugged. “Tequila-fused sex heals others.”

That earned a rousing cheer from the group too. “Well, I can’t give you tequila-fused sex,” Dale slapped the man on the shoulder. “But I can get some tequila, on me.”

As Dale went to order a round for the table, Paige and Paul pulled away from the group. Jenny grabbed a hold of Charlie’s arm from across the table. “What’s the update on Germaine? You get anything on him yet?”

“Nothing.” She sighed, resting her elbows on the table and cradling her head. “With all these flights back and forth and nothing to show for it, I’m about ready to throw in the towel.”

“You think?” Johnny quipped. “Need I remind you that you nearly burned down the house the other day?”

Jenny waved him off. “Johnny, please, the adults are talking. Charlie, I understand where you’re coming from. I do. Anyone who raises a hand against any woman deserves a special place in hell. But you’re doing yourself and the case no favors by burning the candle at both ends.”

Charlie was tired of hearing that everyone, Jenny and Paul especially. They had been the ones to rescue her from Germaine. They had seen how badly she had been left after he had been through with her. She couldn’t stop. “Look, as soon as I get something, I’ll slow down a little, okay? And by the way, since when did you stop calling me ‘mama’?” She asked Jenny.

She and Johnny exchanged uncomfortable looks. “I didn’t think… it was right after…”

“Would everyone stop acting like I’m some fragile porcelain doll?” 

Jenny reached over to rest a hand on hers. "No one thinks that..." 

Charlie rolled her eyes. "Well, that's how you're making me feel. Call me whatever the hell you want."

“Who wants shots?” Dale came over with a big tray of tequila shots.

"Me!" Charlie grabbed a glass and forced it down her throat, as if to prove something to her friends. Johnny and Jenny again exchanged looks, this time they were sympathetic. 

“Mike!” Paige shouted, as the man waltzed through the door and making a beeline over to the group. Jenny noticed an intense look in his eye, which made her instantly uneasy.

She rose to greet him, giving him a side hug. “What’s wrong?”

“Uh, let me get the next round, okay?” Mike addressed the table, before grabbing Jenny’s hand and leading her towards where Paul stood. “I need to talk to you both for sec.”

Paul and Jenny exchanged looks, almost scared of what he had found with his undercover op with the kid and the package. When they had gotten out of earshot from their housemates, Mike turned to address the two of them. “Well, I was right. This is bigger than I could have ever imagined.”

“Is this your Balinese kid you were looking into?” Paul questioned.

“Yeah, I got into his trunk finally and you won’t even believe what I found.” The crazed look in his eye still worried Jenny. She wondered if it was due to the case or his new addiction.

“What did you find?” Jenny asked cautiously, as he dug his phone out of his pocket.

He opened up the pictures he had taken of the package and showed it to them. What they saw was metal canister sitting inside a wooden crate. It sat atop a pile of packing peanuts and straw, in order to protect the canister from damage. “It’s a Soviet CW unit. We’re talking mustard gas, lewisite, VX. If you had to ask me, it’s sarin.”

“Your kid is rolling around with a WMD in his trunk?” Paul gasped, as he passed the phone to Jenny for her to take a look. Mike had been right before. She almost didn’t believe it.

“Oh, my god.” She shook her head.

“Still think I’m just chasing birds?” Mike asked pointedly.

Jenny handed him back his phone. “Okay, hold on. This is the same kid who flunked out of stunt school twice. Meaning he likes movies and shit. What if it’s just a prop or something?”

“Come on, Jenny.” Mike scoffed at her. “I saw it myself, it’s the real deal.”

Paul nodded. “Yeah, Mike. You might have stumbled upon something big.”

“You know,” Mike rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I just spent the day with this kid, and I don’t think he has any idea what he’s sitting on.”

“So, what the hell is he doing with it, then?” Jenny asked.

He shrugged. “I think the better question is… who the hell is he supposed to deliver this to?”

>>>

After successfully getting Johnny drunk enough to pull him out of his funk, Paul, Mike, and Jenny were able to slip back to Graceland to reconvene about the sarin gas Mike had accidentally stumbled upon. They had gathered in Mike’s room.

“Jesus, Mike,” Jenny paced the floor, reading the report in front of her. “Following direct exposure to sarin gas, victim suffers tightness of breath, nausea, drooling…”

“Yeah, I read the report.” He droned in annoyance. They were doing research on what exactly they were dealing with and needless to say, Jenny was not happy. 

But Jenny wasn’t done just yet. “Soon, the victim loses control of basic bodily functions. Vomiting, defecation, urination…”

“Jenny…”

“Finally, the victim experiences convulsive…”

“Spasms and suffocation.” Mike recited over her. “And death occurs within ten minutes. I know the symptoms, Jenn.”

“It’s a big deal,” Paul, who was sitting on Mike’s bed, rubbed his neck.

“Yeah, no shit.” Jenny snapped, dropping the report she was reading from in front of Mike, who sat at his desk. "What the hell did you get yourself into?"

“Gusti is not a terrorist.” Mike shook his head thoughtfully. “He moved here to be a stunt man, not to release chemical gas.”

“Well, he’s got it now, Mike.” Jenny restarted her pacing, the worry she felt was too strong for her to stay still for too long.

“My guess is he’s a middle man, at best.” Mike continued. “He’s holding it. He’s giving it to someone.”

“Well, that someone is our terrorist.” Paul supposed.

“We have to notify the Bureau.” Jenny thought aloud. “The Department of freakin’ Homeland Security…”

“No!” Mike affirmed strongly, causing Jenny to stop her movement and earn gazes from both her and Paul. “DHS will just black-bag this thing. Yes, the sarin might be off the street, but if Gusti doesn’t talk, then we’ll never find out who the man behind the curtain is.”

“We cannot leave this gas in play, Mike.” Paul rose to his feet. “Or handle this by ourselves. There’s just no way.”

“This case is real now because of what I saw.” Mike insisted. “We have to see this through.”

Paul sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “Alright, then. Let me know what I can do, Mikey.” Giving him a slap on the shoulder, he swiftly exited the room.

Jenny stood quiet for a moment, letting her mind race wildly. “Look, it’s going to be alright, Jenn.” Mike rose to comfort her. “Gusti is a small-timer. As long as I’m around him, I’ll be fine.”

She took a step back. “If Gusti likes to keep company with people who handle sarin gas, then by defintion, he is not a small-timer.” Her eyes locked onto his. “Do you really think that this is what your birds and everything meant?”

He knew that she wouldn’t believe him. Truthfully, it was a little far-fetched. He might not have believed it until it actually happened to him. But he knew what he saw when he flatlined. “Everything is right there in this case. All the things I saw… It has to mean something.”

“It’s coincidence.” She argued. “That’s all it is, Mike. You were desperate for answers and your smart brain dug to the bottom of the barrel to find them.”

Mike knew that she was just worried about him, but some part of him was hurt by her choice of words. “Sarin is not the bottom of the barrel, Jenn.”

“If you are insisting on going through with this,” She held up a hand to silence him. “Then I want you off the oxy.”

He shrugged and tried to laugh her off. “Jenny…”

“No, you know what, I’ll do it myself.” She made a beeline for his bathroom, before he could fully register what she was doing.

“Jenny, wait, you’re not actually…” Finally, his feet sprang into action as her hand clasped around the pill bottle that sat next to the sink. She held it over her head about to dump it down the toilet, when he finally made it to the door. He reached for it desperately, but she held it out of his reach noticing something about the contents.

“There’s more in here.” She commented aloud, studying it carefully.

“What, no there’s not.” He could feel a small bead of sweat forming on his brow.

“Yes, there is, Mike.” She said, as he finally was able to swipe the pill bottle out of her hand. “The other day, there couldn’t have been more than 5 left. Now there’s at least 20.”

He thought quickly in a panic. Charlie was really to blame. She had casually mentioned to him that she had a locker in her room stuffed full of oxycodone pills. And when he ran low, he thought she wouldn’t miss a handful here and there. But Jenny wouldn’t understand. “I got a refill.” He tried to say.

“I thought you said you were weaning yourself off them.” Jenny placed her hands on her hips. “That doesn’t sound like weaning off. How could the doctor clear you for duty and write you prescription for oxy at the same time?”

“He wrote me a refill for emergency use only.” The words fell out of his mouth before his brain had time to process them. “Notice that it’s not a full refill. I was given strict orders to only take them when the pain gets really bad, and I have.”

She wanted to believe him. He seemed to be telling the truth. It was almost like she was split down the middle, the right and left side of her brain in a bloody battle. “Mike, you can’t be on oxy and fight sarin.”

“I’m going to be fine.” Mike held the pill bottle behind his back, but reached one hand out to rub her arm. “And knowing that this sarin is out there, I can’t walk away from that. Who knows that that gas is intended for. I have to see it through.”

“I told you that I don’t want to lose you, Mike.” She admitted softly, the feeling side of her brain ultimately winning the battle.

“You won’t, I promise.” He wrapped her in a tight hug. But he had momentarily forgotten that he was still holding the pill bottle. Behind her back, he looked over the evil pills, wanting nothing more than to flush them down the toilet. But it’s like that with every impulse he had to do that, his grip tightened that much more around it. _I might be in trouble._

Jenny thought back to the suggestion that Paul had mentioned to her. Maybe it was something that she could try... "Yeah, well, until you are completely clean..." Jenny tore herself away from him. "Then, I'm sleeping in my own bed."

"What?" He knit his eyebrows together. 

"I mean, until those things are gone and out of your system, then so am I." Jenny insisted, pushing past him towards the door. 

He watched her go, hardly believing the words coming out of her mouth. "Are you talking like sex strike?"

"Yeah, if you like." Jenny paused in front of the door to look back at him, trying to show him how serious she was. 

Mike could see her sincerity but forced a laugh. "You're being ridiculous."

" _I'm_ being ridiculous?" She challenged. "Mike, you are literally chasing birds, all while clutching to a pill bottle." She nodded towards the bottle still clutched in his fist. 

He looked down at his fist and set it down on his nightstand. "I can stop at any time."

"Then, do it."

"Fine, I'm done." He held up his hands and surrender and taking a step towards her. "You happy?" 

"No, because it's still in your system." Jenny shook her head stubbornly. 

"Jenny, I don't have a problem." 

"Yes, you do, Mike. You have an addiction and you need to fix it. Consider this your motivation." Jenny stormed out of his room, slamming the door behind her. Mike stared down at the ground. _She was bluffing, right? She was just trying to prove a point. At any moment, she's going to waltz back in here, a big grin on her face, telling him that she was just kidding._ No, he knew better. She was going to stick to her guns on this. He glanced over at the pill bottle on his nightstand again. He imagined himself picking it up and dumping the remaining pills in the toilet and flushing them away. They were giving him nothing but trouble anyway. But his body would not move. His feet stayed still and his hands did not reach out for the bottle. _Yeah, I'm in trouble._


	9. Fix

“Why is there a stranger in my house?” Jenny asked. It was the morning after their night out with Johnny. She had came down the stairs to find a strange woman roaming around the kitchen, making some delicious smelling food. Charlie and Paige were standing over Johnny, who was now sitting up on the couch.

“Johnny had a little rebound last night.” Paige informed her.

“Yeah, with Hector's Tacos.” Charlie added.

Jenny glanced into the kitchen once again, finally recognizing the daughter of the owner of Hector’s Tacos. It was the house’s favorite Mexican food truck place. Johnny had casually flirted with her before, but had never actually made a move. “Oh, atta boy, Johnny.” She remarked, giving him a high-five.

“You better get this couch cleaned immediately.” Charlie pushed his head before slipping into the kitchen to see what the new girl was cooking.

“Wait, you mean…” Jenny looked down at the couch, and noticed the pile of clothes discarded around it. She scrunched her nose up and shivered. “Oh, my god, Johnny. High-five revoked.”

Paige hid a chuckle. “You really are disgusting.”

“You told me to get laid.” Johnny complained.

“Yeah, but on our communal living space, you pig.” Jenny gagged. “You better have this couch burned, I swear to God.”

“Come on,” Paige tugged Jenny towards the kitchen. “I know you want some of that delicious smelling food.”

Charlie was laughing when they walked into the kitchen. She gestured to the brown-haired girl, making food. “Ladies, meet Jenny.”

Paige and Jenny looked in shock at the new girl. “You’re kidding?” Jenny Briggs commented, as Paige tried to hide another giggle.

“Nice to meet you guys.” The new Jenny greeted in a friendly way. “Hope you don’t mind. Johnny said I could make myself at home.”

“No, please,” Paige told her. “Our casa is you casa.”

“Your Spanish es muy malo, Paige.” Johnny announced as he walked into the kitchen.

Jenny Briggs pulled his arm and muttered so only he could hear. “You banged a girl named Jenny?”

“It wasn’t because of her name.” He assured her.

“You’re gross.” She shoved him off off to the side. 

The new Jenny made the whole house breakfast, which everyone ate happily. Mike and Dale eventually made their way downstairs to meet the new Jenny, no one had told the girl yet about the double Jennys in the house. Mostly because they were too excited and busy consuming the amazingness that was Hector’s Tacos. Apparently, it was a family business, and they were thankful for the gift that Johnny had brought them.

“What scent is making that sweet, sweet siren call?” Paul asked as he finally came downstairs, as everyone was shoveling food in their mouths around the kitchen island. When he finally saw the girl standing in front of the stove, he understood. Stealing a quick glance at his sister, he said, “And it’s Jenny.”

“Hey,” The girl waved at him as Johnny hugged her from behind. “Just trying out a new recipe, making huevos rancheros with chorizo and home fries with fresh pico de gallo. You want some?”

“Please and thank you,” He replied. “Jenny.” He made direct eye contact with his sister with a playful wink as he said it.

The new Jenny seemed to finally notice, looking between the two of them. “Is there something I missed?”

Jenny Briggs rolled her eyes. “My name is also Jenny.”

“Oh, that’s funny.” The girl laughed with the rest of the house. “I can go by Jennifer, if you want.”

“No, please,” Jenny swallowed a mouthful. “If you can cook like this, I think you have earned the title. Everyone can call me Jennifer.”

“Johnny, what are you up to later?” Mike asked, as he started to finish off his plate.

“I was thinking about relaxing.” He replied.

“Somewhere that’s not the couch, I hope.” Jenny raised an eyebrow at him.

Mike ignored her. “Want to help me with something?”

“Yeah, this might take precedence over relaxing, Johnny.” Paul added. Jenny remembered the sarin gas that Mike had stumbled upon, a sick feeling returning to her stomach.

“Mike,” Charlie looked over at him. Jenny sat in between Mike and Charlie, so she had to crane her neck. “You have to go with me to Miami today. Remember? It’s all lined up.”

“That’s today?” He asked, clearly having forgotten about it.

Jenny gave Mike an intense look. “You told her you’d go to Miami?”

“Yeah, but I... I can’t today.” He had already planned out a new way to try and get information out of Gusti.

“You have to today,” Charlie looked over at the civilian and remembered to keep herself censored. “I told them I was bringing my West Coast guy.”

“I can do it.” Dale volunteered, who was sitting on the other side of Mike. “Can they handle a black man?”

“Yeah, you sure you’re available?”

He gave her a nod. “Oh, yeah.”

“Well, I will feel much more comfortable with you going, Dale.” Jenny remarked.

“Why is that?” Mike questioned defensively.

Now it was Jenny’s turn to look at the other Jenny. “The weather is just so terrible this time of year. Your hair will get all frizzy.” She ruffled his head for extra measure.

“So, what exactly do you guys do?” The other Jenny asked the room. Everyone paused and looked at her, unsure of what to say. The sanctity of Graceland was that no one was allowed to know what they did and who they worked for. They had allowed Jenny in, because of her cooking skills, but now... she was asking questions. 

“if you had to guess,” Paige leaned forward casually. “What would you say?”

She studied everyone’s face for a moment, while they all waited with bated breath. “Pornographers?”

Snickers and guffaws echoed over the group. Jenny covered her mouth so she wouldn’t spit out her food, and tried to muffle her laughter behind Mike’s shoulder.

“Maybe some of us.” Dale joked.

“Why?” Charlie pressed.

“Well, you’re all attractive,” The girl explained. “You do business in Miami, you were concerned about how his hair looked, and he wanted to know if they could handle a black guy.”

“She makes a really good point, guys.” Dale continued to joke, as tears were nearly falling from Jenny Briggs' eyes from her laughter.

“We’re not pornographers.” Paige shook her head with a smile.

“I mean, it’s fine if you are.” The other Jenny assured them, feeling like she might have offended them. "I don't judge."

“Yeah, actually, Jenny.” Paul finally spoke up. “We’re CIA deep cover agents.” Nervous laughter came from a couple of them, as he stepped out to take a call.

Jenny looked at her phone to check the time. “I gotta go, my friends.” She rose to take her plate to the sink. “I’m filming a gangbang in an hour.” With a chuckle, she ruffled Mike’s hair again before skipping to the sink.

“Be sure to use protection.” Dale chimed in happily.

>>>

“So we’ve found nothing.” Jenny summed up as her team reported what they had found from preliminary searching for Odin Rossi.

“We thought we had a lead down in South America,” Dalton reported. “But it was just some poser.”

“The tricky thing is that he seems to have dropped off the grid.” Sammy added. “I can’t detect a single person even tweeting about the guy in the last year or so.”

“And with no proof that he is an actual living person, we’ve pretty much done all we can.” Warner leaned back in his chair proudly, almost like saying “I told you so”.

Jenny grumbled to herself as she thought. It had been nearly a year since she had even thought about Odin Rossi. It was almost a miracle that she had thought of the name when Langley had asked her. But now she was trying to remember what life was like then. It almost seemed like a lifetime ago. “Okay… if memory serves me right, I had a theory that Odin was a cop or agent. He had successfully evaded detection for so long that I figured he had to be an insider.”

“So, you think Odin Rossi is a cover name.” Dalton nodded, as he went to typing on his computer.

“Yeah, but rule number one in undercover work is not to change your name.” Jenny thought aloud. “So, do we have anyone in law enforcement, either past or current, with names Odin or Rossi?”

Sammy also returned to her screen and typed away. Warner, on the other hand, rolled his eyes. “Guys, we’ve tried. Odin Rossi is a ghost. If we can’t find him, then he’s gone.”

“I sent a hitman after him, Warner.” Jenny reminded him. “If Trevor doesn’t find anything, then he’s going to come knocking on my door, and I don’t think he’ll be friendly.”

“Then bait and switch him.” The man suggested, as the other members of the team paused their researching, thinking on the idea. “Oh, come on, you guys haven’t thought of this yet?”

“Why don’t you put the ego and just tell us what you mean.” Jenny barked at him.

With a dramatic sigh, he explained his idea. “You live with undercover agents, right? So, talk one of them into being the face of Odin Rossi, slap a Kevlar vest on them, until Trevor opens fire. But when Trevor aims his gun in their direction, that’s when you get the drop on him and lock him in prison for the rest of his life.”

Sammy raised her eyebrows and smiled at him. “That’s genius.”

“And dangerous.” Jenny pointed out. “Every single one of my roommates has danced with the grim reaper in one way or the other. I’m not going to willingly put them in harm’s way. Again.”

“Well, you might not have a choice, Jenn.” He shrugged. “Because it’s either we find this ghost or you have to come up with a creative solution.”

Jenny glanced around the room at her team. She knew that he had a point. But she couldn’t ask her roommates for help. If she did, she would have to tell them everything. And no one would approve of that. Maybe they would help her or maybe they would hate her. And Jenny didn’t know what she hated more. “Sammy, I want you to track Langely’s online activity.” She ordered. “I want to know anything he types in a search engine, no matter how trivial.” Sammy nodded and got to work right away. Tracking people’s online activity was basically all that her job entailed.

“Didn’t you say that he was going to give you updates?” Dalton asked.

“Yeah, but I don’t want any surprises.” Jenny told him. “If he makes any big breaks in the case, I want to at least have a chance to strategize before he makes a move. Dalton, you keep working the law enforcement angle. See if the name Odin Rossi showed up on any report, warrant, or any legal document.”

“And what do you want me to do, boss?” Warner asked sarcastically. “You want me to come up with more brilliant ideas or do you want me to go on snack run?”

“I want to see you out in the hallway.” She nodded to the door and rose to her feet, not bothering to check to see if he was following.

Sammy and Dalton watched warily as the two of them slipped into the hall, sensing the tension in the air. “Ten bucks says she’s gonna beat his butt like a pro-wrestler.” Dalton murmured to Sammy.

“You’re on.” She whispered.

“What did I do now?” Warner asked Jenny, once they both stood in the hall and Jenny had closed the door. “Are you going to give me detention for disrupting class?”

“I want to know your deal,” She crossed her arms across her chest. “I know that you and I have never been the _best_ of friends, but ever since you got here, you’ve had a piss-poor attitude.”

“So now, coming up with good ideas is having a piss-poor attitude?” He challenged. “Honestly, Jenn, I’m surprised you didn’t come up with the bait and switch sooner.”

“It’s not about your idea, dumbass. You have been nothing but short with me this whole time. I have told you time and time again that you do not have to be here, but you chose to stay.”

“I’m staying for Sammy’s sake.”

“But why? Why do you hate me so much? I never did anything to you.”

He looked at her as if she had just said the craziest thing. “Never did anything?”

“No,” She insisted. “Not that I can recall.”

“Well, let me refresh your memory, dear Jennifer.” Warner squared himself and faced her. “I was offered that job the Bureau offered you all those years ago.”

Jenny looked genuinely shocked and confused. Either she truly didn’t know or didn’t remember. “You were?”

“Yeah, dumbass. Don’t you remember me telling you about it?”

“I remember talking to you guys about it, but…”

“No, I told you. Just you. I didn’t even tell Sammy or Dalton about the job offer.” He explained.

“Why?”

“Because I trusted your advice and judgement.” Warner snapped. Jenny was clearly taken aback, not sure what to say. He sighed and kicked an imaginary thing across the floor. “Yeah, you and I fought all the time, but you were still important to me. You were my best friend, and so I confided in said best friend for advice.”

As Jenny tried to remember the conversation, she furrowed her brows in concentration. “The Bureau tried to recruit you, too?”

“No,” He shook his head. “They were just recruiting me. But I had brought up your name to them. I told them that if they wanted me, they had to take you, too.”

The memory started to return slowly, and Jenny could feel regret and shame setting in. “You did?”

“Yeah.” Warner leaned against a wall as he went on. “I approached you about it, wondering if it was something that we wanted to do. Then, the Bureau talked to you and gave you the same speech they gave me. You came back to us and told us all.”

“And you told me that I belonged in the Bureau.” Jenny nodded.

“I was trying to get you to join _with_ me. We were both moving on up to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. All thanks to our brilliance and competence with computers. But then, when I called them up, they said that they only had one position available and you had already filled it.”

Jenny slumped against the wall next to him. “I stole your job.”

“You stole my dream.” He corrected. “I had always wanted to be federal agent and I finally had my shot.”

“Well, why didn’t you just reapply or something?” Jenny questioned. “Just because they were only hiring one person that one time doesn’t mean you couldn’t try again.”

“I did.” Warner kicked another imaginary object. “But that was also the time that I had found my love of the bottle. That and having my dreams ripped out from under me created what was defined as ‘anger issues’. They didn’t want to hire someone who couldn’t play nice with others.”

“You thought this was a job interview.” She remembered him arriving in a suit and tie.

“First tech job in a while.” He admitted, staring off towards the wall.

She turned to face him again. “Warner, I am so sorry. I never meant to hurt you.”

“Yeah, well, you did.” He sighed. “But not just me. Sammy and Dalton, they were a little lost after you left. We all eventually found our way, but those two had a hard time adjusting.”

“I have a lot of making up to do,” Jenny agreed. “But that’s part of the reason why I called you guys in. I wanted to get the gang back together. Revisit my roots. Can you… please allow me to use this as my penance?”

Warner studied his former best friend carefully. The two of them were much older than when they had last considered themselves to be best friends. Jenny still wore braces back then, and Warner had just earned his high school diploma. Now, they were full-fledged adults, practically whole new people. Even though years had passed, they still felt some kinship between them. “Will you allow me to come up with more brilliant ideas?” He asked her with a smirk.

She rolled her eyes and tried not to smile to widely. “Only if you promise to give me less lip.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He saluted her. “You think you can recruit a roommate to join our team?”

She bit her lip. “I don’t want to. But… you might have had a point earlier.”

“Might have?” He teased.

“Just get in there and check in on our team’s progress,” She gently shoved him towards the door.

“What are you going to do?” He asked, as he saw her dig her phone out of her pocket.

“Go against my better judgement.” She replied. As he slipped back into the conference room, her mind tried to go through her roommates. Who would she pick to help her? Who did she trust the most? Who would hate her the least for getting mixed up with a hired hitman? Before she really knew it, she had already dialed Mike’s number. _Predictable,_ she thought to herself as she raised her phone to her ear, hearing the trill of the ring.

“Hey, J.B.” Johnny's voice chimed through. 

Jenny paused and checked the number she had dialed again. It was Mike’s number alright, but then why was Johnny answering it? “Johnny, what are you doing with Mike’s phone?”

“Mike’s in lock up right now.” Johnny explained. “It’s part of the cover he’s got going with that one Bali kid he’s under with. We’re trying to see if he’ll spill any info on who’s picking up the sarin gas. Which, by the way, is wild.”

“Yeah, no shit.” Jenny was slightly worried, finding out that Mike was in jail. But at least he wasn’t getting exposed to toxic gas. And Johnny was there to intervene, so she felt a little better about it. “The kid talking yet?”

“No,” Johnny sighed into the phone, as he watched the security footage of the jail cells holding Gusti, Mike, and Gusti’s totally-not-a-green-card wife. “This kid either has no idea what’s going on, or he’s way tougher than he looks.”

“He hasn’t even told Mike anything?”

“Not yet. And the guy’s been throwing almost everything he has at him. No one’s saying boo.”

Jenny felt her worry increase a hair. Johnny might have had a point about the kid being tougher than he looked. But when he's handling a lethal gas, that could only mean danger. “What about Mike? Is he okay?”

“He’s fine, Jenn.” Johnny assured her. “His cellmates are actually very gentle lovers, so they’ve been treating him good.”

She rolled her eyes at his joke. “You’re hilarious.”

He chuckled victoriously. “Any message that you want me to pass on to your fair Romeo?”

“I was just calling to check in.” She lied. Mike was too busy chasing his crazy-but-not-crazy birds. He didn’t have time to deal with her problems. And she sure didn’t want to involve Johnny. He had just got out of a crazy case with the Solanos.

“Where you at anyway? I thought you didn’t have a case you were working on.”

She thought quickly. “I just got hired for a job, actually.”

“Doing what?”

The question was innocent enough, but Jenny almost felt cornered. “Some software installation, you wouldn’t understand. Just, uh, keep a wary eye on my boy, alright?”

“Your boy?” He beamed brightly, as she felt instant regret. “That’s adorable.”

“Goodbye, Johnny.” She promptly hung up and stared at her phone. Paige and Paul were involved with the Sarkissians, Charlie and Dale had the Florida and Germaine case, there was no one left. She had to try and find a solution to her Langley problem on her own.

>>>

_“Hey, you’ve reached the incomparable Jenny Briggs. Obviously, I’m too busy to answer the phone right now, so leave your info at the beep and I might consider calling you back. Maybe.”_

“Hey, Jenn. It’s me,” Mike was hiding in Gusti’s bathroom, letting the faucet run while he spoke quickly and quiet. Gusti had just confessed everything to him after they had been in lock up for 20 hours. He was eager to share what he had found out. “I found out what’s going on. Two weeks ago, Gusti makes a deal online, the deal that I found. He sends a photo of himself to a PO box. In exchange, he gets a prepaid cell phone, no return address. Couple days later, the shipment container shows up at the port. He goes to the port, it’s a cargo box in a container that he puts in his trunk. He doesn’t know what’s in it. He just knows that there’s 50k upon delivery, so he waits for the phone to ring. And today, when we were in lockup, it rang.”

“Mike, you in there?” Madison, Gusti’s wife called from the other side of the door.

“Just a minute,” He called to her. “Just a sec.” After some pause, and he was sure that she had gone, he spoke into the phone again. “Listen, Jenn. Whoever’s after the sarin is not giving up after one missed phone call. So the next time that phone rings… don’t kill me, but I’m staying here tonight. Call me.” Mike hung up the phone, knowing that Jenny was not going to like it one bit. But he was sure that she would call him the second she received it. He had to see what his “vision” was leading to.

>>>

Jenny was ready to collapse on her bed. She and her team of tech nerds had tried to find Odin Rossi all day, but still nothing. It was late at night by the time she had made it back to Graceland. As she walked up the stairs, she listened to Mike’s voicemail that he had left her. He was planning on staying the night with the kid? The same kid who was holding sarin for some unknown villain? She did not like it one bit. But before she could call him back to yell at him, she heard Charlie yell into the hallway from her room.

“House meeting!” Charlie shouted, banging on walls as she exited her room, Dale right behind her. "Come on, guys. House meeting!"

“Mama, I’m so tired,” Jenny whined, as she reached the top step. “Is it important?”

“Yeah, it is.” She replied, as Paul and Paige poured out of their rooms. “And you, of all people, will definitely want to hear this.”

“Chuck, what’s up?” Paul asked as they joined the small group by the stairs.

Paige folded her arms. “Is everything okay?” 

“No, actually, it’s not.” Charlie explained.

“We just got back from Florida,” Dale chimed in. “With a haul of oxy.”

“My pill locker was getting crowded,” Charlie interrupted. “So I decided to do inventory… 20 missing.”

“20 pills?” Paige questioned. “How?”

“No, the question is who?” Charlie corrected. Jenny knew right away what the problem was, and she was ready to commit several acts of violence. Johnny, who had just fallen asleep before hearing Charlie’s shouts, came stumbling over to them, eyes blinking fast in order to keep from falling asleep.

“What’s going on?” He yawned.

“Charlie’s missing oxy, man.” Dale informed him.

“Someone in the house.” Charlie insisted.

Johnny took a minute to let the news sink in. “Wait, oxy, as in the drugs?”

“No, Johnny,” Dale quipped sarcastically. “Oxy as in the rainbows and unicorns.”

Jenny barely heard their conversation. She thought to the day before when she discovered more pills in the bottle. How could she have not even considered the possibility that it had come from Charlie's locker? “Well, if it’s oxy that’s missing,” Jenny finally spoke up. “I think we all know who took it. And… I feel like such an idiot right now.”

“You think Mike took them?” Paige asked.

“Who else has been on oxy, Paige?” Jenny shrugged. “I told him to kick the habit. He said they were prescription…”

“And you believed him?” Johnny raised an eyebrow at her.

“Well, now that you mention it, Johnny, I didn’t go to the frieakin’ pharmacy with him.” Jenny spat defensively.

Charlie placed a gentle hand on her arm. “Hey, no one’s attacking anyone.” 

“Hell yeah, we are.” Jenny shrugged her off. “We’re attacking Mike. I thought that was clear.”

“Where is he, anyway?” Dale looked around in search of him.

“He’s staying the night with Gusti.” Paul said, having received a similar message from him that what he had left Jenny.

“Good, so we know where he is,” Jenny nodded. “Let’s go break down Gusti’s door.”

“Hang on, sis.”

“The hell you mean ‘hang on’?” She barked. “We just found out he’s skimming Charlie’s pill pile. We can’t just let that go.”

“No, but we gotta play this right.” Briggs spoke calmly. “And not to play this card, but I have sort of a hint as to what he’s going through right now.”

Paige nodded, purposefully not looking at Jenny .“He’s right. We’ve all seen these cases before. We can’t go in on the attack. He could flake out or double down.”

“Stop talking about him like he’s a goddamn junkie in one of your cases!” Jenny hollered, her anger almost taking control now. “Mike is one of us and he knows better.”

“But he doesn’t need our judgement.” Paul explained. “He needs to know that we are coming from a place of caring.”

She snorted. “What, like an intervention?” But after looking around at her roommates, she could tell that an intervention is exactly what they meant. “Guys, I was kidding. Are we really going to sit around and pray for him?”

“We can just sit and have a talk with him.” Charlie again placed a hand on her shoulder. “Mike’s a reasonable guy. He might listen to us if we do this right.”

“When Mike comes back from Gusti’s,” Paul addressed the group. “We’ll be waiting for him, ready to voice our concerns. I can research some anonymous rehab centers to have on file, but I think it will mean more if we keep this in house, no outside counselors or anything like that.”

Everyone nodded in agreement and slowly retreated back to their bedrooms to turn in for the night. Paul and Jenny lingered in the hall still, as Jenny tried to call up Mike. It went straight to voicemail. “He’s not answering me.” She reported, as she hit the redial button again. It rang once, but then went to his voicemail.

“Give him space, Jenn.” Paul rested a hand on her shoulder.

“Space for him to keep swallowing oxy by the handful?” She challenged. “I can’t let him keep doing this to himself.”

“You can’t stop him.” He pressed gently. “What Mike is facing right now is beyond you.”

After calling him for the third time in a row, and getting his voicemail a third time, she grunted in frustration. “I tried, Paul. But I wasn’t good enough.”

“No, no,” He pulled her into a tight hug. “This is not your fault. Speaking from experience, these demons take over you and you have no control.”

“So what am I supposed to do?” Her question was weak and almost pathetic. A rare show of vulnerability from her.

“Do you know what helped me?” He told her as he placed a kiss on top of her head. “You were there for me every step of the way. You didn’t yell or scold or judge me. You just stayed by my side and held my hand when it got rough. That’s what Mike’s going to need from you.”

She looked up at him, exhaustion practically overtaking her. “So I’m just supposed to wait around for him to come home?”

“He will.”

“And how do you know that?”

“Because you’re here. And he always comes back to you.”

>>>

_“Hey, it’s Mike. Leave your message and I’ll get back to you soon.”_

“Hey, it’s Jenn… I’m not mad… Okay, that’s obviously a lie. Of course, I’m mad. But I’m not going to yell or scold or nag. You know me, though, I tend to worry. So… can you please just come home? I promise that I won’t yell when you get here. I just want you home. Safe. Or at least send me a text, so I know you’re alive…. I love you, Mike. I hope you never doubt that. Call me back?”


	10. Heat

“Look, it’s just not a good time right now,” Jenny explained to Warner over the phone, as she went about scrambling eggs for breakfast. Mike had not returned her phone calls or text messages and was still not back from his sleepover at Gusti’s. Her mind couldn’t focus on anything, and especially not Odin Rossi. “You can cover for me, can’t you?”

“That’s not my job, Jenn.” Warner argued. “What you got going on that’s so important?”

Mike’s face was at the forefront of her mind. “I don’t need to delve into my personal problems with you. We don’t have anything substantial to go off of anyway. Just keep reconning and monitoring.”

He hesitated. “This just seems weird. And you know that Sammy is going to be asking for you.”

“Warner, you want my job, right? I stole it from you, remember? Well, today, you can act like me. Sammy and Dalton are now under your control. Call me with any updates.” She hung up the phone and reduced the heat on the burner as she searched for a clean plate. Jenny wasn’t much of a cook, but scrambled eggs were easy enough for even her to manage.

“Who’s Sammy and Dalton?” Johnny asked as he came downstairs and waltzed into the kitchen. The mischievous grin on his face made her want to punch him.

“Your mom and dad,” She spat in his direction, as she continued searching to cupboards. “Why do we have no clean plates? Who’s turn is it to do the dishes?”

Johnny cleared his throat, as he grabbed orange juice out of the fridge. “That would be… your boy.”

Jenny swallowed a lump in her throat. She had been trying her best to take her mind off Mike, but he always seemed to find his way into conversation. “Fine, I guess I’ll eat out of the pan.” She muttered as she grabbed a spoon from the silverware drawer.

“No word from him?” He asked as he poured himself a glass of juice. He gestured to her asking if she wanted some, but she shook her head.

“Nada,” Jenny shoved a large scoopful of eggs in her mouth. “And I’m getting pissed with every passing hour.”

“He’ll be fine. It’s Mike we’re talking about.”

“Yeah, but the Mike we know has never been hooked on drugs.” She reminded him. “I still can’t believe he stole from Charlie’s stash.”

Johnny chuckled as he put the orange juice back in the fridge. “Yeah, and he’s supposed to be the smart one.”

“ _He’s_ the smart one of the house?” Jenny questioned, feeling slightly offended that she didn't hold that title.

“Yeah,” Johnny explained. “Mike’s the smart one, you’re the techy, Charlie’s the mom, Paul’s the weird hippy uncle…”

“What about you?”

He scoffed at her as he flexed his arms. “I’m the muscle.”

“Boy, shut up,” Jenny flung a scoop of eggs at him, as he dodged out of the way. Dale came walking in at that point, as a small piece of food landed on his foot.

“God damn,” He recoiled as Jenny and Johnny tried to hide their giggles. “You know, food is supposed to be put in your mouth, not on my foot.”

“Sorry, Dale.” She offered an apologetic look. “Want some of my eggs?”

“No, I think I’ve had plenty.” He grumbled as he went to pour himself some coffee. Jenny and Johnny didn’t have to say it out loud, but they both knew who Dale was in the house: the grouchy one. “Why you eating out of the pan, like a college freshman?”

Jenny swallowed thickly again. “There aren’t any clean plates.” She scooped another mouthful of eggs in her mouth.

A quick glance over at the chore wheel on the wall told him why that was. “I can do them.”

“No, Dale, you don’t have to.” Jenny tried to say.

“Jennifer, will you let me clean my own house?” He asked defensively as he ran the sink.

Paige entered the kitchen at that point. “Hey, guys. Good, you’re all here.”

“What’s going on, girl?” Johnny asked, leaning on the kitchen island.

“I need your guys’ help with the Sarkissians.” Paige told them bluntly. Johnny and Jenny exchanged glances, as Dale turned off the faucet.

“So, Paul’s sending you as the messenger now?” He asked.

Briggs came down the stairs and addressed them. “This is her call, actually,” 

“You’re serious?” Jenny raised an eyebrow and looked between the two of them.

“Who we putting on the chopping block this time?” Johnny challenged.

“No one. Except our main players.” Briggs replied and nodded to Paige for her to explain her plan.

She placed her hands on the counter as she spoke. “We want to get all three of them in the room at once: Toros Berbarian, Ari Adamian, and Martun’s right hand man, Tevan Adamian. Then, we can bust them on a buy that we set up.”

“What about Martun?” Dale prodded. “Isn’t he the head of everything?”

“If we take out all his goons, then what does he have?” Paige countered.

“But, Ari might recognize you, Jenny, from the other night at Nancy’s,” Paul pointed out, as everyone remembered the plan that got Colby killed. “So, we’d have you running surveillance on the op, nothing face to face. And Jakes, you can oversee everything, make sure everything goes smoothly.”

“Johnny, you can be our buyer.” Paige suggested, as she explained to him what gang she thought he could go under as, and the arms they would be trying to purchase from the Sarkissians. Paul would be the one to make the introductions, as Johnny would try to purchase rather large guns from them.

Dale, Johnny, and Jenny let the two of them spill out their plans and listened. But all the while, exchanging glances with each other. They still were not cool with what Paul had put them through with the last brilliant plan he had. It involved a lot of moving parts, risky moves, and undercover work that had got an agent brutally murdered. Despite this plan being different on the surface, none of them thought it sounded that different. When Paige and Paul were done explaining their plan, they looked to each of them expectantly, waiting for their answers.

“When we walked out on you,” Dale spoke for the group. “What part of the walking out was unclear?” Jenny and Johnny nodded in agreement. “We’re not doing your dirty work, man.”

“Not to mention we have in-house problems that we need to address.” Jenny added.

“Also, not to keep bringing this up,” Johnny also chimed in. “But the last plan you had got one of our guys a battery acid bath so…”

Briggs slowly nodded. “Wow, okay.” He moved to the living room soundlessly.

“Where’s he going?” Johnny peered into the living room to see him turning on the TV and changing the channel to the closest news station. Luckily, a story about arms dealing in war zones in the Middle East was on, so he turned up the volume and walked back towards the group in the kitchen.

“What about them, huh?” He gestured behind him towards the TV, as news reporters spoke of weapon dealing and the casualties it caused. “Because no matter how you may feel about me, the Sarkissians are international arms dealers. That means that they move ammo and weapons to tyrants and terrorists all over the world. Do you guys care about that at all?”

Jenny scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Paul, don’t be so dramatic.”

“Yeah, bro,” Johnny shook his head. “We’re not going to stop ISIS from raping and pillaging.”

“What about the people here in LA that profit from it?” Paige chimed in. “The point of all this is to make arrests and to stop Briggs from getting killed.”

“And that was the point of the last plan we made, too.” Jenny countered. “What makes this one different?”

“You and Jakes are going to be right there, watching us.” Briggs shrugged. “If bullets start flying, you can swoop in and save the day.”

“You guys are a couple of assholes.” Dale grumbled before holding up his hands in surrender. “What do you need?”

Paige smiled at him, as Paul nodded. “Well, it all starts with me convincing Toros and Ari to meet our guy, Johnny.”

Johnny rolled his eyes and hung his head. “I hate you, man.” He said as he reluctantly agreed to take part in the plan.

Jenny huffed out a sigh. “I’m going to edit your earlier statement, Dale, and say you are all assholes. I’m out.” She slammed her pan down and shoved passed Johnny, rushing towards the stairs. Paul was able to rush over to her and cut off her ascent, as Paige, Dale, and Johnny started strategizing in the kitchen.

“Jenny, please, I need you.” He pleaded.

“No you don’t, Paul.” She let out a frustrated stomp of her foot when she tried to get past him. Damn him and his quick, athletic ability. “Jakes can run the surveillance. I’m just another body.”

“Yeah, a body that I trust to have my back. Look, Paige heard that Toros wants me dead, and Ari is running out of excuses to keep me around. If we don’t do this soon, then I will be joining Colby.”

“Don’t.” She raised a hand, shuddering at the thought. “I just can’t, Paul. I’m sorry.”

“It’s about Mike, isn’t it?” He gave her a knowing look.

“Yes, it’s about Mike.” She spat at him. “It sounds completely pathetic, but it is. I called in to a different case I’m working on because I can’t focus on anything right now.”

“You’re working a case?” Paul tried to recall her telling him about it.

 _Shit._ “It’s just some low-level software thing,” Jenny waved a hand dismissively. “It’s not important. But the point is, while Mike’s out there having a slumber party with sarin gas and flirting with oxycodone, I’m basically useless.”

“But if you sit around here and wait for him, you’ll drive yourself crazy.” He countered. And it was a pretty good point. “Come on, Jenn. You’re not some 50s housewife waiting for her man to return from the war. It’ll be good for you to get out there and do some good. Maybe take your mind off things for a while.”

Jenny hated the fact that her brother was smart. He could make great points all the time, to the point where she would reconvince herself to be on his side. It was very annoying. “Fine.” She grunted. “But if this thing ends with a body bag…”

“It won’t.” He gave her a reassuring wink. “Not if we do our job right.” He rejoined the group in the kitchen, as Jenny watched him go.

“It’s not us that I’m worried about.”

>>>

“Johnny looks like a clown.” Jakes mumbled as he and Jenny sat in their vantage point. Paul and Johnny were waiting for the Sarkissians to show up at the meeting point, while the TAC team stood by, waiting for the signal. As part of his cover, Johnny had insisted on covering himself with gaudy tattoos all over his torso, neck, and face.

“Yeah, and paired with a wife-beater,” Jenny rolled her eyes. “He’s like a living embodiment of a racist’s stereotype.”

Jakes smirked at that as a Ari’s red car pulled up to the meeting point. “Okay, that’s Ari. Everyone, stand by and wait for my signal.” Dale spoke into the walkie.

They watched and listened to the transmissions from Paul and Johnny. When Johnny spoke, he adopted a smoky and heavily accented voice, starkly different to his normal voice. Jenny scoffed. “This is ridiculous.” She commented, as she chewed on her thumbnail. “Why did I allow myself to get talked into this?”

“Too late now.” Jakes shrugged, as he leaned in closer to the computers in front of them, turning up the volume to hear what was being said.

“You want to buy,” Toros was telling Johnny. “You talk to me. Your man here says you’re in the market for heavy arms. RPGs. You going to war?”

Jakes then noticed from the cameras they had set up that Toros wore a bandage over his nose. “Does the dude have a busted nose?”

“Yeah,” Jenny smirked, feeling some levity lift from her. “Apparently, he tried seduce Paige when she was undercover, so she punched him.”

“Paige did that?” They both laughed at the thought of Paige socking it to a Sarkissian. “Girl’s got balls.”

“Yeah, she does.” Jenny agreed as Johnny and Toros pulled guns on each other, forcing their small moment of levity to end abruptly. “Send them in, Dale.” Jenny sat up straight.

“No, hold on,” He waited and listened to the conversation.

“Yeah, come on, no need to act like children.” Ari was trying to smooth the situation over.

Johnny and Toros tried to negotiate a deal for a short exchange before Toros told them that the boss, Tevan, would meet with them tomorrow. Jenny slumped back in her chair as the two Sarkissians retreated back to their car. “We have to go through all this again tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” Dale sighed, as he ordered the TAC team to stand down. “Ten bucks says Toros takes a punch at Johnny.”

“You’re on.”

>>>

“He should be getting back any minute.” Jenny informed the house pacing back and forth as the rest of her roommates sat patiently on the couch. After two days of Jenny going absolutely nuts, including having Paul confiscate her car keys so she didn’t go driving over to Gusti’s, Mike had finally returned her call. He was headed back home, so the house tried to prepare themselves for their conversation.

Charlie, who was about to board another flight to Florida, patted the couch next to her, silently telling Jenny to take a seat next to her. “At least you know he’s okay.”

“’Okay’ does not mean _clean_.” Jenny pointed out.

“But remember,” Paul tried to calm her down. “We are going to be calm and collected, not judgmental or sarcastic.”

“Or threatening to beat his ass.” Johnny added with a chuckle.

“Okay, is this an intervention for Mike or for me?” Jenny said defensively, before she realized the point they were trying to make. “I’m sorry.”

Charlie threw an arm around her. “You know that I like your spunk, kiddo. But right now, that's not what Mike needs.”

“I get it.” Jenny sighed in defeat, trying to calm herself. Being calm wasn’t exactly something that she was used to being. “I just… I want this on the record, but I don’t think this will work.”

“It’s worth a shot.” Paul shrugged. Just then, they all heard the door open. As they turned towards the door, they saw Mike coming through the entryway, making a beeline for the stairs. He was intending to shower and change clothes, not really noticing the group in the living room.

“Mike.” Jenny stood up but stopped herself from running over to him. She was relieved to see him alive and walking, but as he glanced in their direction, she could see how pale he looked. It wasn’t her Mike. But she remembered her job and forced a friendly smile on her face.

“Hey, Mike,” Paul chimed in, gesturing towards the couch. “You want to come sit with us?”

“Uh, sure.” He shrugged as he made his way over to the couch. By his body language, Jenny could tell that he wasn’t suspecting anything yet.

“We just want to talk to you.” Jenny reached out her hand towards him, offering him a weak smile. He grabbed a hold of her hand and sat down next to her. As they settled into the couch, she caught a whiff of his musty smell. It was clear that he hadn’t showered in a couple of days, hair was stringy and greasy, his eyes were red and droopy. He looked worse than he had the last time she saw him. Rubbing his arm, she tried to hold her tongue from chewing him out for disappearing for two days. The friendly smile

“What’s going on, guys?” Mike asked, looking around at the strangely smiling faces pointed at him. Even Dale was smiling at him, which hardly ever happened. Something was up, but he wasn’t exactly sure what. “Kind of, uh… freaking me out with this little circle.”

Johnny let out a nervous chuckle, as Jenny made eye contact with her brother across from her. Underneath her touch, she could feel his hands shaking. She knew this. Paul had the shakes when he was coming down from heroin. It was all bringing up some painful memories. “Hey, bro,” Johnny spoke up. “You know that we’re here for you. Like whatever you need.”

“Anytime.” Dale winked at him.

“Yeah…” Mike was still unsure about what was going on.

“And that we love you.” Paige added.

“We really do.” Jenny squeezed his arm for emphasis.

“Great.” Affection and verbal affirmations were not normal things shown amongst the housemates of Graceland. Mike was pretty weirded out.

“Look, Mike,” Paul finally spoke. “There’s no easy way to say this, so… we’ll just say it.” Mike seemed to hold his breath while Briggs took a pause. “We need you to stop using.”

Suddenly, Mike understood everything. He rolled his eyes. “Are you serious?”

“We’re not judging you.” Jenny told him softly.

“Did you put them up to this?” He asked her accusingly, almost leaning away from her.

“We know that you’ve been skimming oxy off my supply.” Charlie said in a firm, yet gentle way.

Again, he rolled his eyes. “I’m not skimming anything.”

“Mike, it’s okay.” Jenny tried to assure him.

“We’re just trying to get you right, bro.” Dale offered coolly.

“You’ve been gone for two days.” Paige brought up.

“Your eyes are bloodshot.” Jenny pushed a strand of hair out of his face. “And you can’t stop shaking.”

Johnny leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “Look, who you’re talking to, man. I mean, we deal with junkies all day long.”

Mike could feel his defenses go up with every word coming out of their mouths. “Junkie?” He repeated.

Johnny realized what he said and hung his head. “I didn’t… I didn’t mean that.”

“No one’s calling you a junkie, Mike.” Jenny came to his aide.

Mike leaned in close to Jenny and whispered to her in a not at all quiet way. “You know, actually, we already have one junkie in this house.” He nodded in Paul’s direction. “If anyone took the pills, it’s probably him.”

“Mike.” Jenny felt anger rise, as Charlie placed a warning hand on her back.

“We just want to help you.” Paige assured him.

“Well, thank you all so much,” Mike addressed the group. “But I don’t need your help.” He tore himself out of Jenny’s grip and stood to return to his original plan of walking upstairs.

“Mike, stop.” Jenny called after him. "Come back."

“You know, Mike, I can see your hands shaking,” Paul hollered in a way that caused Mike to pause in his tracks. He looked down and clenched his fists as Briggs went on. “Kinda like on a Richter scale, you know?”

“Well, it’s ‘cause I’m under attack here.” Mike turned to face him.

“I think it’s because you got the shakes.” Paul insisted. “You know, I’ve seen that before. You know what comes next? The sweats. Hot, cold, and then exhaustion. That’s fun. Mania, terror. I know the beginning of this, I know the middle, and I do know the end.”

Mike shook his head and held out his hands towards the group. “Look, the truth is, I took the pills, okay? I took the pills. They’re for my cover. Madison, Gusti’s wife, is a user.” Jenny closed her eyes and shook her head. This was going almost exactly as she expected.

“You stole evidence from Charlie,” Jenny told him.

“Jenny,” Paul gave her a warning look, as Jenny remembered to keep her cool. “Listen, Mike. After what you went through, we all should have been there for you. And we weren’t. We left it all up to Jenny. And that’s our bad. But we love you, man, and we are here now.”

Mike chuckled darkly, as he felt words pour out of him like hot lava. “Oh, man, you must be getting a real kick out of this, huh?” He shot at Paul. “Paul Briggs, the savior. And you know what, both of you Briggs’. This savior complex must be genetic or something. Where would any of us be without Paul or Jenny Briggs?”

Before Jenny could offer a verbal comeback, Charlie pinched her arm, telling her to stand down. His words hurt her, he knew that, but he wasn’t about to stop. Jakes spoke up again. “Listen, Warren, don’t take any of this personally, okay?”

“You know what,” The lava continued to pour out of Mike’s mouth. “I’m not going to listen to you, because you’re a drunk.”

“Mike,” Jenny spoke through clenched teeth.

“Look, this is not about him.” Paige raised her hands in effort to keep the room calm.

“Maybe it should be about him. He’s the one who’s family won’t even talk to him.” Jakes stood up and took an aggressive step towards him, while Paul held him back. Jenny also found herself standing and placing her hands on her hips. Jakes started shouting at Mike, who only egged him on. Paul had to stand, in order to successfully hold Dale from attacking him. “See, I’m not the one with the problem,” Mike continued. “So if you all want to talk, we can talk.”

“Shut up.” Jenny ordered, jabbing a finger in his direction.

Once Paul had calmed Jakes down enough, he turned to address the blonde man again. “You want to know what the problem is, Mike? The problem is no one here is perfect.”

“No, nobody’s perfect.” Mike crossed his arms. “Like you. How many murders have you covered up at this point? Let’s see, we have Colby. We have Lisa. Oh,” He turned towards Charlie with a rueful smile on his face. “And your baby. Charlie aborted your baby.”

“Mike, that is way out of line.” Jenny growled, clenching her fists.

“Yeah, man, shut up!” Now it was Johnny’s turn to stand. “That’s enough.”

“I don’t think it’s enough actually,” Mike was too hot to stop now.

“Look, there is a clinic that we have called…” Paige started calmly.

But Mike turned his ire towards her. “No, you don’t get to talk to me! Unless you want to share why I started using in the first place.”

“Warren,” Paul’s voice was no longer calm and collected. His anger was rising with the rest of the room’s. Jenny was about ready to tackle Mike for Jakes.

“Okay, everybody shut up.” Charlie finally spoke up after a long time of being silent. “The bottom line is, if I tell the Bureau you’re using, you’ll never work again. Career over.”

Charlie and Mike stared at each other for a beat, almost as if he was silently daring her to go through with her theat. Jenny saw tears forming his eyes. He looked around at his roommates, slowly nodding. “Great. Thank you so much for your help.” He said quietly, before finally running upstairs, ready to pack his shit and go.

“Mike,” Charlie and Jenny called after him.

“Let him go.” Paul told them.

“No, Paul,” Jenny turned towards her brother. “We’ve tried it your way. Now, let me try mine.” She followed after him, practically sprinting up the stairs. Her anger travelled down her to her feet, each step nearly shaking the foundation of the house.

She quite literally kicked Mike’s door open, who was in the middle of packing a suitcase full of his belongings. If Charlie was going to report him to the Bureau, he might as well get a head start on the rest of his life. He jumped slightly when Jenny kicked open the door, but when he saw her standing in the doorway, arms folded over her chest and hazel eyes ablaze in anger, he scoffed. “Get out.”

“No.” She replied firmly.

“Get out, Jenny!” He shouted, as he grabbed a fist full of clothes from his closet and shoved them in the suitcase, not even bothering to fold them properly.

“No.” She repeated. “You think I’m going to let any of the shit you said back there slide?”

“Did I say anything that wasn’t true?” He challenged.

“You are burning every bridge you can, Mike. And for what? So, you can keep following down this destructive path?”

“Spare me the self-righteous bullshit, Jenny.” Mike spat, as he wrestled clothes. “If I’m such a problem to you people, then I’m gone.”

“Mike, just stop.” She walked towards him, as he purposefully turned his back to her. Jenny hugged his torso from behind and clung to him. “Stop fighting. Stop thinking. It’s me.” He tried wrench himself free from her grasp, but she held on tighter. “Talk to me, Mike.”

He could hear the desperation in her voice. Biting his lip, he tried to fight the angry monster that had taken over since the meeting downstairs. The words he said, he knew that he had hit too many nerves. As much as Mike tried to fight, he felt possessed. But now, in Jenny’s arms, he could feel the possession start to weaken. Tears stung his eyes as he slumped down to sit on his bed.

Jenny fell with him, still holding on tight to him. “Where are you going to go? Huh? You gonna run away? Be a goddamn junkie on the street?” She reached out and firmly grabbed his chin to look at her. “Look at me.” His damn puppy eyes were filled with tears, still bloodshot. The anger she felt slowly replaced itself with sympathy. “You’re stronger than this, Mike. You’ve never let anything get you down before. But this isn’t you. This isn’t what you want. This isn’t what I want.”

“It hurt, Jenny,” Mike sobbed weakly, finally winning over the demon. “It hurt so bad.” Jenny felt tears well up in her eyes as she saw the pain he was feeling. Still clinging to him, she rubbed his back and rested her head on his shoulder, as if she could try and heal him. “It felt like my insides were being ripped out. And I just… I needed to get back to work. I needed to stay upright. So I kept taking the meds.” Jenny lifted her head to look at him once again, as the words poured out of him like a bursting dam. “I don’t know what happened or when, but… it was like a switch flipped. It’s like I’ve been living inside someone else’s body. Every pill I take, I think it’s going to be the last one, but it’s just the last one and the last one.” Finally, Jenny couldn’t stand it. She pulled him into a tight hug, letting him sob into her shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Jenny.” He cried softly.

“I know,” She said, feeling her own tears fall. This was the first time she had ever witnessed Mike be truly vulnerable. All the times he had been injured, admitted his feelings for, or even died, he remained strong and put together. But now, he was truly broken. “It’s okay, baby.” Jenny let him cry, her shirt getting wetter with every passing second, but she didn’t care.

“I didn’t mean to say all those things…” He admitted, once he started to steady his breathing.

“I know, I know.” She pulled away enough to cradle his face in her hands, her thumbs wiping away his tears. “It’s okay. I forgive you.”

The damn puppy eyes regarded her carefully. “You do?”

“Yes, I’ve forgiven everything you’ve done or said.” She told him, pushing a loose strand of hair out of his face.

“Why? I don’t deserve it.”

“No, you don’t.” She smiled at him. “But despite how incredibly stupid you’ve been, I still love you, Mike.” Mike smiled at her, pulling her in for a desperate, yet gentle kiss. Jenny tried to transfer all of her feelings through the one kiss before resting her forehead against his. “But you gotta let me help you. Okay? This place we found… it’s anonymous.” Mike tried to pull away and resist, but she held true. “There’s no pressure. We can go tonight. We can go together.”

“I gotta finish this case, Jenn.” He shook his head.

“No, you gotta get well.” She insisted. “You need to take care of yourself. I can’t keep watching you deteriorate in front of me.”

He glanced up towards the ceiling, suddenly realizing how tired he was. “They say you have to be ready to do something like that.” His eyes returned to hers. “And I’m ready. I don’t want to do this anymore.”

“I know, come here.” She pulled him into another hug and squeezed him tightly. “We’re going to get you the help you need. You’re going to be okay.” The two of them clung to each other, both finding the familiar comfort of being in each other’s arms. A solace. A shockwave.


	11. Stumble

“Just let me try and get Madison to come with us.” Mike begged Jenny. Charlie had already gone to Florida, while Dale, Johnny, Paul, and Paige were out dealing with the Sarkissians. They had tried to get her to come with them, but she was not about to leave Mike. She and Mike had agreed to start trying to detox him, bring him to the anonymous clinic, but Mike was trying to convince Jenny to let him go back to Gusti’s place beforehand.

“No, Mike.” She shook her head firmly. “We can’t keep putting this off.”

“She’s fighting the same demons as I am.”

“She’s not our responsibility.” Jenny insisted. “I’m sorry if that sounds cold, but you need to save yourself, before you start saving others.”

“Jenny,” He placed both of his hands on her shoulders. “I know that you think that… what I saw… is all horseshit. But… it led me here. Maybe I was meant to save her. To help her and Gusti.”

She felt her phone buzz in her pocket for the sixth time. She knew who was calling her. And he was being very persistent. This was the last thing she needed right now. “Okay, fine.” She gave in. “You can go swoop in to save the day. But no sleepovers, you got me?”

He smiled and kissed her forehead. “Thanks, Jenn.” He started for the front door.

“And I swear to God, Mike,” She called after him. “If you even think about touching one pill, I will rake your ass over the coals.”

“Love you, too.” He shouted over his shoulder, as he disappeared through the door.

She shook her head and smirked at his departure. _Goddamn that man_. But it didn’t last long. Because her phone buzzed again. Grunting in frustration, she finally answered. “What?”

“Wow, that’s rude.” Trevor Langley gasped mockingly in the phone. “And here I was about to share some good news with you.”

A sinking feeling returned to her. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that I’m making headway in your Odin Rossi wild goose chase.” He replied smugly. “You sure didn’t make it easy for me. Was almost ready to give up until recently.”

“What changed?” Jenny asked warily. She hadn’t heard from Warner or her team of any new developments and it made her uneasy.

“Lots of things.” Langley teased. “But I think I like keeping you in suspense.”

“That wasn’t part of the deal.”

“No, the original deal was to kill Sid Markham, but we both know how that ended.” Venom poured through her veins. This was seriously the last thing she needed right now. “I will tell you that I don’t know exactly who Odin Rossi is, but I have it narrowed down quite a bit.”

“Langley, I swear to God,” She muttered in low and menacing tone. “I will make your life a living hell.”

“I’m sorry, Jenny. I gotta run. Be seeing you real soon, though.” The call ended. Jenny let out a guttural scream. Luckily, no one else was home to hear her. She should have never had gotten involved with Langley. That was not new information, but it still was something she kept muttering to herself. She sent a text to Mike. _Something came up. Going to be out most of the night. I will be back as soon as I can. Don’t be a dumbass._

>>>

“So, I take a couple days off, and you guys slack off on me?” Jenny demanded to her friends. They all hung their heads in shame. “Sammy, I told you to track his online activity.”

“I did.” She protested. “And I have. But he hasn’t been researching Odin on the web. Otherwise, I would have known about it and I would have told you.”

“Is that even possible?” Dalton wondered aloud. “Can anyone nowadays research anything offline?”

“Well, apparently, Langley has.” Jenny retorted.

“We’re sorry, Jenn.” Warner offered.

“You guys are going to make it up to me right now.” She ordered. “I want us to trace calls, texts, credit card purchases, security footage. I want to know everything Trevor Langley has done this whole week, who he’s talked to, and where he’s been. Maybe by doing that we can get to the bottom of who he’s going after.” Sammy and Dalton nodded and started typing away at their computers at a furious pace.

“Can I ask a question?” Warner raised his hand like they were in school. “Why are you so focused on finding out who Odin Rossi is? Why not just let the guy waste him?”

“Because, Warner, I am sending this guy to the grave.” Jenny snapped at him. “And if my original theory was correct, that means I’m sending one of my guys to the chopping block. I need to know who it is.”

The team spent most of the rest of the night, mapping out Langely’s movements. Apparently, he had been talking with some low-level street dealers, trying to get the scoop on Odin. They were able to get the IDs of most of the people he talked to, where he went. The boards around the room were covered with photos and maps. The conference room was starting to look like a madman’s lair. String connecting all the photos, and push pins holding everything up. But all of that was still useless. Because they couldn’t find out what information Langley found. The security footage they accessed had little to no sound, so they couldn’t hear the conversations and he never wrote anything down or used his phone to communicate or track the information.

It wasn’t until around 5 in the morning when Jenny decided to call it quits for the night. Her eyes were so heavy, she had to ask Warner to drive her home. They would have to reconvene after they all had a chance to rest. Jenny knew she would have to track down all the people Trevor talked to and ask them what was said, but she had to be careful about doing that. If she hauled all of them into an interrogation room, word would get out and Trevor would know that she was onto him. Who knows what he would do then.

Finally making it back home, she stumbled through the door, checking her phone to see if Mike had ever responded to her text. Nothing. She hoped that he wasn’t waiting for her. As she made her way upstairs, she was stopped by Johnny hollering at her from the kitchen. “Is that a walk of shame I see?” He snickered. “Mike is gonna be hella jealous, bro.”

Rolling her eyes, she descended the stairs and stumbled into the kitchen. Paige, Johnny, and Paul were all gathered in the kitchen, eating their breakfast, and smirking at her disheveled appearance. “I’m not on a walk of shame.” She mumbled, struggling to keep her eyes open.

“Well, you look like shit.” Paige nudged her gently.

“Where were you?” Paul looked at her in concern.

“I just pulled an all-nighter with the case I have been working on.” She replied, yawning like a lion. “Which I haven’t done in years.”

“I didn’t know you were working on a case.” Paige remarked.

She rolled her eyes. “What do you want me to take out an ad in the paper? It’s just some software thing. Don’t worry about it.”

“Some software thing that took all night?” Johnny asked curiously.

Jenny still didn’t want to involve her roommates with Langley. They were all still tied up with their own cases, they didn’t need more troubles. “Look, I would love to tell you all about it, Johnny, but honestly, I don’t think I could stay awake long enough.”

“Then, you should go get some shut-eye, sis.” Paul told her as his phone started to ring.

“That’s what I was planning on doing.” She muttered. “Until someone catcalled me.” She gestured in the direction of Johnny.

Paul answered the phone with a smile. “Hey, Mike, guess who just got home?”

“Mike’s not here?” Jenny asked Johnny and Paige.

“No, he’s been out all night.” Johnny shrugged casually.

Jenny raised an eyebrow. “He has?” She was ready to kill him. Letting him go to Gusti’s was a huge mistake. Why did Trevor Langley have to call right then?

But she wasn’t allowed to stew on it too long. Because Briggs gave a mysterious look to the three of them as he said into the phone, “As a matter of fact, this is Odin Rossi.” Jenny no longer felt tired. That name had been plaguing her for days now, and Paul was saying it out loud. Suddenly, she remembered suspecting him of being Odin Rossi, before dismissing it. Her brother couldn’t be that, he just couldn’t. But judging from the look on his face, she knew that he was bluffing. Whoever he was talking to was not Mike. “Where’s Mike?” He asked, as Johnny and Paige exchanged worried glances.

“What’s happening?” Jenny whispered to him.

He held up a hand towards her as he tried to listen to whoever was talking to him. “What do you want?” Another short pause as he listened. Jenny was practically holding her breath. “So you want 100k and a pound of methamphetamine.”

“Mike’s being held by meth heads?” Johnny questioned, as Jenny and Paige hushed him.

“You got it,” Paul continued his phone call. “Where do I bring it? Mhm, yeah, I know the place…. Yeah. I’ll see you soon.”

“What’s going on?” Jenny asked desperately, as her brother hung up the phone.

“Apparently, Mike and Gusti are being held by a couple of tweakers.” Paul explained. “They somehow got a hold of the mysterious sarin gas can. They think I’m Odin Rossi and want to make an exchange.” 

“Why would they think you’re Odin?” Jenny pushed.

“Maybe Mike told them.” He shrugged.

“But why would Mike…”

“Jenn, we can sit here and play the guessing game of how we ended up here,” Paul said in annoyance. “Or we can go save the kid from getting killed again.”

“Fine, then I’m going with you.” Jenny started to follow him towards the front door.

“No, Jenn.” Paige tried to stop her.

“Yeah, you need to go rest.” Paul told her.

“Okay, if any of you think that I will be able to sleep a wink knowing that Mike is being held hostage by meth heads, then you do not know me at all.” Jenny snapped at the group. She turned towards her brother. “I’m coming with you, even if I have to staple my eyes open.”

“Then, we’ll go, too.” Paige stepped forward, gesturing Johnny to follow her.

The four of them made a dash for the car. Paige volunteered to drive as long as Paul gave her directions on where to go. Johnny and Jenny sat in the backseat, Jenny chewing on her thumbnail in worry. Still beating herself up over letting Mike go the night before. Maybe if she had forced him to stay, he wouldn’t have to be held hostage. Was he still high? And how did Paul and Odin figure in all this? Something ate at her stomach as the car ride progressed.

“Man, we should be calling this into Homeland Security or something.” Johnny told the car, after Paul explained what they knew about Gusti and the sarin he was holding for someone. “Let them deal with the sarin gas.”

“Yeah, John,” Paul turned towards him. “But if we phone it in, then everything’s in the books.”

“Yeah, and Mike goes to jail.” Paige added.

“So, what’s your plan, Paul?” Jenny asked.

“Yeah,” Paige nodded, as she turned a corner. “Are we really about to roll up on the place without any cash or drugs?”

“If we show up with neither,” Johnny said knowingly. “This ain’t going to end up as anything but bad, we know that.” Jenny closed her eyes and tried not to let herself think too much about that.

“Guys,” Paul tried to calm everyone down. “Mike didn’t ask for cash. And he didn’t ask for drugs. He asked for Odin Rossi. So that’s what we will bring him.” Jenny, who sat right behind him, stared at the back of his head intently. Maybe he really was Odin all along. But that would mean that she had hired a hitman to kill her own brother. Right now, he was just playing the part of Odin, but something still gnawed at her, making her feel like something wasn’t right.

They pulled up to the house where Paul had been instructed to meet them. He then turned around in his seat to tell them the plan. “Okay, I’ll go in there first. Make sure that the gas and Mike are okay. I’ll get the gas out of harm’s way. Then you guys can come shooting your way in.”

They nodded and slipped out of the car, withdrawing their concealed weapons. Paul entered the house calmly, as Johnny, Jenny, and Paige ducked by the door out of sight. If Jenny was still tired, she didn’t feel it any longer. Her heart was pounding as she hoped that Mike was okay. After some words were screamed at her brother by the two meth heads, Paul exited the house, holding the gas canister in his hand. The three of them dashed inside the house, raising their guns.

“You better put your freakin’ guns down!” Jenny hollered, as she lead Johnny and Paige inside. A quick scan around told her about the room, which was mostly empty, like someone was doing hardcore renovations. The skeletons of walls with no sheetrock, exposed electrical wires, and unfinished floor made the house look like a shell. In a matter of seconds, she was able to locate Mike. One of the meth heads, the guy, was holding a gun to Mike’s head. The girl was holding a gun to Gusti’s head. Upon the three of them entering the house however, the girl opened fire.

Johnny and Paige ducked down, as the bullet fired from the girl’s gun hit the wall behind them. Jenny dropped low but fired her weapon towards the perps. Her aim was true, as it hit the guy holding Mike in the leg, causing him to yelp out in pain. Mike took the opportunity to tackle him and rip the gun out of his hands. The three dashed behind a half-torn down wall.

“You really want to go and do that?” Johnny yelled as he peeked around the corner towards the girl, who was still holding Gusti.

“Yeah, easy with the bullets!” Jenny hollered.

“Put your gun down!” Paige yelled, aiming her gun at her. Jenny also peered around the corner, seeing that Mike was holding the gun he had taken, but was struggling to aim at the girl. She could see his gun wave around wildly, like it was first time holding a gun. He was a very good shot, so seeing him struggle to focus was something she hadn’t seen from him. That and judging from the amount of sweat he was covered in, Jenny could guess why. He was going through withdrawals. _The bastard._

Mike fired his gun, but despite his best efforts, the bullet hit Gusti. Paige followed fire and shot the girl in the arm. Both the girl and Gusti fell to the ground. Johnny and Paige ran to cuff the two meth heads as Jenny ran towards Mike, who was kneeling over Gusti. Mike had shot him in the stomach, ironically not far from where he had been shot down in Tecate. The way that Gusti looked at Mike, a mix of anger and helplessness. Jenny placed a hand on Mike’s shoulder, knowing that he was probably torturing himself for being such a terrible shot.

“I’ll call an ambulance.” She told him.

“No,” Mike insisted. “You call an ambulance; they’ll bring the cops. And we don’t want them poking around here.”

“Well, then what, Mike?” She challenged. “He’s going to bleed out if we don’t do something.”

Mike thought hard as Gusti spoke up. “I have a friend.” He stammered through the pain he felt. “A doctor. Makes house calls. Take me home.”

“You got it, buddy.” Mike tried to smile at him. But he was feeling like the worst human alive. The poor kid had been shot. By him. How could his aim have been so off?

>>>

Jenny looked down at the papers in her hand. It had been Paul’s idea. She had hoped it wouldn’t have come to this, but she couldn’t see any other way. It was a flier for a rehab clinic that she had created and printed off. She had gotten the design from Mike’s notebook. An arch of flying red birds flying over the words “Change Your Life”, with a number to a local rehab center. A little cheesy and on the nose in her opinion. But maybe this would get Mike to do the right thing and finally quit the pills. She passed the fliers out all over Gusti’s apartment complex, doubling it on the floor Gusti lived on. Mike was still with him, as his doctor friend saw to his wound. He was going to see these fliers; she would make sure of it.

Before leaving to wait for him at home, she took one last glance at the hallway. _This better work._


	12. Clean

Jenny remembered when Paul last went through detox. It was after the fire at the Estate, caused by Jangles, the same man who had pumped heroin in him in the first place. She had handcuffed him to a bed in a hotel and sat with him through the ups and downs. And boy, were there downs. Cleaning the vomit off his face, letting him soil himself, hearing all his begging, crying, and screaming, it was the hardest thing she had to go through. Jenny wanted nothing more than to heal her brother and wave a magic wand to make all the pain he felt go away. But after a couple days, he was better. And he had been clean since. All this was rushing back to her as she watched Paul handcuff Mike to his bed.

“It took a couple of tries for me to get fully detoxed.” Paul explained as he secured his wrist and ankle to the bed posts. “I once tried to detox in a Buddhist monastery, 13,000 feet above sea level.”

“Is that the one that stuck?” Mike asked, as he tried to get himself comfortable. It had been his idea to go cold-turkey at the house, rather than go to a clinic. And after all the support from both Paul and Jenny, he felt more comfortable with them being around. After seeing those fliers in Gusti’s apartment, as he had just stolen a bunch of Gusti’s pain medication, that was the final decision. He had to get clean.

“No, actually the one that stuck was when I was handcuffed to a hotel bed with my beautiful sister by my side.” Paul looked to Jenny, who tried to smile, but couldn’t quite do it. “Which is exactly what you have now. And that’s a good thing.”

“We’re not going anywhere.” Jenny knelt down by Mike’s bed, trying to ready herself for the roller coaster ahead. “But it is going to get rough.”

“Yeah,” Paul nodded as a chill went down his spine. “About 12 hours in, you will kill, plead, beg, do anything for a fix.” He reached over and placed a friendly hand on his shoulder. “This is going to be the hardest thing you will ever have to do in your life, Mike.”

Mike set his jaw and nodded, trying to prepare himself. “I got it. Thanks, Paul.”

Briggs nodded and gestured toward the door. “I’ll come relieve you in a few hours, Jenny. Let me know if you need anything.”

“Thanks,” She told him, as he slipped through the door. Jenny looked back towards Mike, who was still covered in sweat. She rose to go dampen a cloth in his bathroom. _This is for his own good,_ she thought to herself as she ran a rag under the faucet. _This will make him better._ “How are you feeling?” She asked as she returned to his side, gently dabbing the sweat off his brow.

“Not great.” He replied. “Haven’t had a fix since last night.”

“Yeah,” She said absentmindedly. In any other situation, she would have yelled at him for going behind her back and taking the pills again. But not now. He didn’t need that at the moment.

“I’m sorry, Jenn.” Mike gave her an apologetic look, seeing the hurt on her face.

“Hey,” She rested the damp cloth on his forehead. “We’re not going to focus on the past anymore. We’re only looking to the future. And you’re going to get better.”

With the hand that wasn’t handcuffed to the bed, he reached out and took her hand in his. “I’m scared.” He admitted quietly.

“I know,” Jenny tried not to sob, wishing for the same magic wand she had wished for when Paul went through detox. “But you’re not going to be alone. I’m going to stay right here. And if I’m not here, I’ll make damn sure someone is.” 

Mike couldn’t believe what an idiot he had been this whole time. Jenny meant everything to him, and he nearly destroyed that all for a lousy pill addiction. It was a wonder that she had stuck around as long as she did. “I love you.” He told her.

“I love you, too.” She said, placing a gentle kiss on his hand.

>>6 hours later>>

“Any word yet?” Jenny asked Warner on the phone. Jakes was sitting in with Mike, so she took it the opportunity to check in with her team. She had tasked them with interviewing the people who had been in contact with Trevor.

“Most of these scumbags barely remember what they had for breakfast this morning.” Warner reported. “Let alone what they talked about with some guy.”

“So you got nothing?” She rubbed her forehead as she paced the hallway.

“We’ll keep looking. Sammy’s still on Langley’s trail and tracking his movements. So far, he’s been staying at a hotel in some small town. No real leads as to why.”

“Well, just keep me updated.” Jenny sighed. “And Warner… thank you.” She had finally told her team about Mike. They had been pretty understanding, including Warner, surprisingly, and agreed to let her take a few days off. As long as they kept working on the case.

“No problem.” He replied.

As she hung up the phone, she heard Mike let out a strangled cry in his room. Jenny tried to take a soothing breath when Paul came up the stairs. “Hey, sis,” He greeted. “How’s our guy doing?”

“You know how he’s doing,” She responded, as Mike cried out again. She bit her lip in worry. “Oh, god.”

“He’s going to be okay.” Paul gave her arm a reassuring rub. “You’ve been through this before.”

“Yeah, barely.” She snapped. “Do you know how hard it was for me to watch you go through that?”

He dropped his gaze down to the ground in shame. “Jenny, I…”

“Don’t apologize, Paul,” Jenny rolled her eyes. “I’m not looking for apologies. I’m just saying that…” She leaned against a wall and tried to steady her breathing. “I thought I was done with this detox routine. I thought I had seen the last of it with you. And here I am, in the same exact position.”

“I know,” Her brother nodded, leaning against the wall next to her. “It’s like it’s your destiny or something.”

“Don’t start getting all mystical on me.” She said coldly.

“All I’m trying to say is… you are good at taking care of people, Jenn. You always have. Even when we were kids.” He almost wished they could turn back the clock and return to when they were both innocent and young. But that wouldn’t do them much good. Because eventually, they would be lead back to this same moment in time.

Jenny stared in the direction of Mike’s door. “I don’t know if I’m strong enough to go through this again.”

“Yes, you are.”

“No, I don’t think so.”

He reached around and rested an arm around her shoulders. “You are plenty strong. The strongest woman I know.”

They stood like that for a while, looking towards Mike’s door as if he were going to walk through it at any moment, like Lazarus. Maybe if that did happen, Jenny would start believing in some master plan or higher power. But with a scientific mind, it was hard to come to terms with. “Why couldn’t I have fallen for a banker or something?” She joked, causing them both to chuckle lightly.

>>8 hours later>>

Charlie poked her head in Mike’s room. She saw Jenny and Mike asleep on his bed, Jenny curled around him protectively. Mike’s face would twist every once in a while, clearly in a fitful sleep. There was a look of concern imprinted on Jenny’s face even while she slept. It nearly broke Charlie’s heart.

Absentmindedly, she touched her stomach as she watched over them. Her baby was gone. She had lied to everyone saying that she had already aborted the baby. Including Paul. But she couldn’t go through with it. She didn’t want to lose her case with Germaine, but she sure as hell didn’t want to lose her baby. But due to some asshole spiking her drink down in Florida with some major psychedelic drugs, she lost it. It was gone. Charlie felt lost, not knowing what to do now. Sure getting Germaine, the asshole who practically beat her to death and nearly cost her the baby, was her main priority now more than ever. But it was just a revenge thing. What happens when it’s over? What will she have then?

Charlie pulled a blanket over Jenny and Mike, stroking both their faces lightly. These poor kids were fighting for each other. Despite all the shit the house had seen, these two seemed to be her light. Even with all their on and off again routines, they still found their way back to each other. It was touching. Maybe things weren’t so bad.

>>7 hours later>>

“Can I get a new bucket?” Paige hollered out in the hall as Mike continued to retch in his wastebasket she held up to him. Unfortunately, it was almost full.

“I’m coming.” Jenny rushed in, holding out a plastic bag. “It’s okay, Mike.” She sat down next to him, rubbing his back.

“Don’t touch me.” He groaned, falling back against his pillow.

“Relax, you’re okay.” She told him calmly handing the bag to Paige. She leaned over and tied off the bag full of vomit, so Paige didn’t have to touch it. Normally, Jenny didn’t do well with bodily fluids. But now, she moved about like a seasoned nurse. “How you feeling?” She asked him.

“What does it look like?” He snapped, raising his head and letting it fall against the pillow a few times. His head felt like an alien was about to burst out of it.

“How long has he been like this?” Jenny asked Paige.

“Pretty much since I got in here.” She answered in concern.

Jenny leaned over and cupped his cheek. “Mike, Mike? You’re okay. You need to calm down.”

“You gotta let me out of here, Jenn.” He pleaded, grabbing onto her desperately.

“You’re okay, babe.” She assured him, rising up off the bed. “I’ll go throw this away.” She told Paige, gesturing to the bag of vomit.

“No, Jenny, please!” Mike called out after her.

“Relax, Mike.” Paige tried to soothe him.

“I’ll be back,” She tried to tell him calmly. “Don’t worry.”

“God, why do you hate me?!” Mike hollered at the top his lungs.

Jenny forced herself out of the room. Once she had reached the hallway, she fell back against a wall, still hearing him crying out for her. Closing her eyes, she tried to reassure herself and give herself some encouragement. _This is for his own good, it’s working. You can do this. Mike is going to be fine._

>>5 hours later>>

“Jenny, you talk with him!” Johnny shouted as he stormed out of Mike’s room. “I’m not sitting here taking this.”

“What are you talking about?” Jenny, who happened to be walking past, grabbed onto the man’s arm, stopping him from running away. “And where are you going? You’re supposed to be on Mike watch.”

“Look, I know the dude’s going through some shit right now,” Johnny spat at her. “But he’s sitting here telling me that I’m some ghetto ass trash or something when he’s the one who’s looking like a mess.”

“I’m not a mess!” Mike screamed at him.

“Mike, shut up,” Jenny snapped at him. “Johnny, you need to have thicker skin and take a healthy dose of perspective.”

“I ain’t going to put up with that. I’m not doormat. I don’t give a rat’s ass what he’s going through.” He insisted, as he wrenched himself free. “He’s your problem now.” He then stormed off to his room.

Jenny rolled her eyes and entered Mike’s room. “What the hell is your problem?”

“Jenny, look at me,” He lifted his head enough, so she could see the crazed look in his eye. The mania was starting to set in. “I’m not the one with a problem.”

“Okay, well, you just pissed off Johnny, so that’s one problem.” She informed him, as she took a seat next to the bed.

“Oh, I get it.” He let his head drop against the pillow as he laughed manically. “I’m the burden. I’m the problem child of the house. You all are so high above me.”

“Mike, stop it.” Jenny leaned over and grabbed his face so he could look at her. “We are here to help you. And you need to calm down.”

“I think there’s something wrong.” He said suddenly, looking down at his body.

“Yeah, that’s an understatement.” She muttered.

“No, I can’t breathe.” He started to gasp. “I think there’s something on my chest.”

“You’re fine, Mike.” Jenny reached over and placed a hand on his chest. “See, nothing’s here. Just breathe.”

“Please…” He continued to gasp erratically. “Just let me go.”

“No, Mike, breathe. Do it with me.”

“I can’t do this anymore. I want it to stop.”

“It will when you breathe.” She walked him down to steady his breathing enough to calm him down, but the mania still wasn’t over. It was probably just beginning.

>>8 hours later>>

Paul sat next to Mike on his bed, holding onto his hand, as he moaned in pain. “It hurts so bad, Paul.” Mike cried, squeezing his eyes shut.

“I know, buddy.” Briggs felt a new wave of sympathy for Jenny. If this is what she had to go through with him, he could see why she was so distraught having to go through it with Mike.

“I feel like something’s trying to crawl outside of my body.” Mike continued to groan and sob softly.

“You can do this, Mike.”

>>>

It had been over 48 hours since Mike first started detox. The house was exhausted. Playing nurse/babysitter had not been an easy task for any of them. But it had probably taken the biggest toll on Jenny. She sat in a chair next to a dozing Mike, trying to keep herself awake. Sleep had not been something she had been able to get a lot of in the past few days. And her body was starting to give out on her.

Johnny knocked on the door, which startled her awake. “Hmm?” She snorted, looking over at him with heavy eyes.

“I was told to come relieve you.” Johnny said softly. “You need some sleep, girl.”

“No, I’m fine.” She rubbed her eyes and stretched in her chair.

Johnny looked over at Mike, his bed covered in sweat and piss stains. He laid motionless; his eyes open staring towards the wall. “Hey, is he okay?” He slapped Mike’s foot in order to revive him. “Mike?”

Jenny blinked enough to glance over at Mike to see what Johnny was talking about. Johnny tried to shake him awake, but Mike was not responding. “Mike,” She stood up and leaned over him, turning his face towards her. “Mike…” Under her touch, she felt his skin practically on fire. There was a glaze over his eyes. They were open, but there was no recognition. No life. “Oh, god. Paul. Paul!”

Her brother came rushing in. “What’s up?”

“He’s burning up.” Jenny told him quickly, concern rising in her voice. “And he’s barely responding to me.”

“Hey, yo, toss me the keys.” Johnny told Paul, who did, and Johnny went about uncuffing him from the bed.

“Mike, can you hear me?” Jenny whispered to him desperately. But he still didn’t respond. Her stomach plummeted to the ground. “Paul, help him.” 

Paul felt the man’s forehead. “Shit, Charlie!” He shouted over his shoulder. “Start the tub, he’s running a fever!”

Paige and Dale came running into the room. “Is he okay?” Paige asked.

“Dale, help me get him up.” Paul ordered as the guys lifted him carefully from the bed. Jenny felt tears streaming down her face, remembering when she found him lifeless in the hospital room. The similarities between then and now were too similar. She was supposed to be watching him, but she had let herself fall asleep.

“Watch his head,” Jenny ordered as Paul and Dale put each of Mike’s arms over their shoulders. Johnny followed behind as they carried him to the bathroom, where Charlie had already started running the cool water. Paige held Jenny’s hand as they rushed close around the procession, trying to beat them to the bathroom in order to help him into a cool bath. Jenny couldn’t stop crying and squeezing Paige’s hand. _Please, let him be okay._

“Mike, can you hear me?” Paul asked him as they made their way towards the bathroom. The man stirred a little but didn’t say anything.

“Come on!” Charlie shouted from where she stood at the tub.

“Charlie, you got the water running?” Paige led Jenny by the hand as they pulled in front of the boys.

“I got him,” Johnny tapped Dale on the shoulder. “You go get some ice.” Dale nodded and ran down the stairs as fast he could.

“Be careful,” Jenny told them, as they all helped lower Mike into the bath, the water nearly to the top of the tub. “Mike, can you hear me?” She sat near his head, cradling it gently. He still didn’t even seem to register that he was even in water, despite how cold it was.

“Okay, watch out!” Dale announced as he returned with a bag full of ice. They all moved out of the way, as he dumped it all in the water.

“Mike?” Paul looked down at the man, who was still burning up. “Okay, we need to dunk him.” He nodded to the housemates to help him. “One, two, three.”

Jenny still held onto Mike’s head, tears dripping down into the water. They held him underwater for a couple of seconds, Charlie reaching over and placing a soothing hand on Jenny’s shoulder. _I’m not going to lose him again._ They lifted him out of the water, Jenny running around the tub to lift his face, trying to see if he was responsive. “Mike? Mike?” She shook his head desperately, but he still wasn’t looking at her. “He’s still too hot.”

“Okay, we dunk him again.” Paul addressed the group. “One, two, three.”

They pushed him underwater again, as Jenny reached down in the water and grabbed a hold of his hand. _Come find me, Mike. I’m right here. Don’t you dare leave me._ Lifting him out of the water, she called for him again.

“One more time.” Briggs pushed. “One, two.”

“Paul, I can’t lose him again.” Jenny cried out as they pushed him under again. She still gripped his hand like it was his lifeline.

“No one’s losing anyone.” Charlie barked out.

“Yeah, come on, Mikey.” Johnny encouraged.

He was in a familiar place. Trees. All sorts of trees that were so green and vibrant. He could smell the spring breeze. His feet were running, wind warmly breezing past him. Suddenly, birds. Red ones. All 47. Flying away in a perfect arch. He turned and saw the tunnel of trees again. A path stood before him. At the mouth, sat an old grandfather clock. 10:10. This time, his feet merely walked, eyes transfixed by the clock. As soon as he crossed an unseen threshold, a woman stood before the block, looking up at it with her back turned towards him. He stopped as she heard him approach. The woman turned her head to face him. Jenny. She smiled and held out a hand towards him. Water started to fill his lungs. Was he drowning?

Suddenly, Mike burst out of the water, gasping for breath. Everyone crowded around him, Jenny squeezing his hand and looking at him hopefully. He caught his breath as he slowly returned back to consciousness. “You all right?” Johnny asked, as everyone held their breath.

Mike lifted his head enough to look around, blinking like crazy. The trees were gone, so were the birds and the clock. Instead, all he saw was a group of people looking at him like he had just came back from the dead. “You guys are about the ugliest angels I’ve ever seen.” He joked. Everyone let out a chuckle, as Jenny bowed her head thanking whatever brought Mike back to her. She felt him squeeze her hand, so she looked at him again. “Besides you, of course.”

Tears still streaming from her eyes, she smiled at him. “You dumbass.” She socked him in the arm before hugging him close, not caring if she got wet. “You scared me half to death.” Sobs were pouring out of her almost as fast as her tears.

Charlie slumped against the wall in relief. “Jesus Christ.”

“Welcome back, Levi,” Dale ruffled his wet hair.

“Back from the dead twice.” Paul joked.

“Maybe too soon, Briggs,” Paige scolded him.

“Don’t you ever scare me like that again, you hear me?” Jenny whispered to him, still locked in embrace.

“I promise.”


	13. Awake

“Johnny, you call this clean?” Jenny held up a pan that still had flecks of food all over it.

He shrugged nonchalantly, as he cut into some apples for his breakfast. “Why you looking at me?” 

“Because you were on dishes last.” She reminded him. “And I know that you like taking shortcuts.”

“Hey, I scrubbed that pan, okay?” He argued as he put a slice of apple in his mouth. “I practically went through an entire sponge.”

“Why are you even trying to lie to me?” She questioned, pushing him back playfully as she went to the sink to try and fix his mistake. Jenny wanted to prove him wrong. “You know that I have a bullshit detector, right?”

Johnny peered over her shoulder as she worked to scrub the pan clean and struggled. Water, soap, and scrubbing proved to be much harder than she had originally thought. He smiled victoriously. "How's it going?" 

"I will whack you with this pan, Johnny." She grunted, pushing back at him. "Don't test me."

“Hey, Mikey,” Johnny greeted as Mike walked through the front door. Jenny looked up and saw him run into room, having clearly just been on a run. He hadn’t been on a morning run in a while. After his ice bath the day before, she hadn’t expected him to bounce back so quickly. Only twelve hours before he had practically drowned in the bathtub. Now, he was just returning from his morning run. She was surprised that he had done a complete 180 in such a short amount of time. But that wasn’t the only thing she noticed.

“You shaved.” She commented.

Mike shrugged. He had decided to finally shave the half beard he had been sporting since his days in the hospital. Now that he was clean, it was time to put a good step forward. Plus, it was getting itchy. “You disappointed?” He asked, as he slowly walked towards Jenny.

“Yeah, it made you look tough.” Johnny quipped.

“No, I like it.” Jenny smiled up at him, feeling his now smooth chin. “It’s you.”

“Yeah,” He leaned and surprised her with a kiss. He had woken up that morning in one of the best moods he had felt in a while. He felt like his old self again. With battling the pain from his bullet wound, to wrestling with his addiction, and even going through detox, he felt as if he had just awoken from a coma. Now, he was free to enjoy life and all it had to offer. Well, to be specific, he was free to enjoy spending more time with Jenny.

“Wow, so you’re feeling better.” Jenny commented after pulling away but letting her arms rest on his shoulders. “Where you been?”

“To hell and back.” Mike pulled her in again, this time wrapping her arms around his waist. Jenny leaned into him, feeling grateful that she is still able to kiss him. It felt like a reunion after being apart for so long. Well, at least since the old Mike had been around.

They had both forgotten, however, that Johnny was still there. He rolled his eyes and groaned. “Come on, guys. It’s barely 9 am. You’re ruining my apples.”

Jenny pulled away from Mike and turned her head towards him. “Johnny, do us a both a favor, and beat it.” She then pulled Mike in for more kisses. She just couldn’t get enough of him. And he couldn’t get enough of her. With the high emotions of the last few days, they needed to find their solace again.

Johnny scooped up his apple and grumbled. “No problem. You guys are grossing me out, anyway.” As he slipped upstairs, Jenny and Mike continued their little make-out session. He lifted her up and sat her on the counter, her fingers combing through his hair. It was still rather long, but she didn’t mind it so much. For a brief moment yesterday, it seemed as though they would never get another opportunity to do this again. Now that it was happening, neither one of them wanted to take it for granted.

Finally, they had to break apart to catch their breath, resting their foreheads against each other. “I missed you,” Jenny whispered to him.

“I missed you, too.” He smiled, still panting from his run and their kissing session.

“So you went on a run this morning, I see,” She commented, noticing the sweat stains on his t-shirt.

“Yeah, it’s been a while. Don’t want to turn into Jello, right?” He teased before reconnecting their lips again. Jenny smiled into the kiss. She had no idea if there was any grand master plan at work. Maybe Mike had actually seen a glimpse of the afterlife when he flatlined. Maybe there was a greater power watching over them. But one thing was for sure, she was grateful to have been gifted the opportunity to still be with Mike.

His lips started to trail down her neck, as she caught a glimpse of the clock on the other side of the wall. She had told Warner and the team that she would be there today to check in and see what they found. Right now, she was regretting making that commitment. “I gotta go,” She told him, trying to gently push him away.

“No, you don’t,” He playfully bit at her neck in order to try and convince her further.

“No, I do.” Jenny mustered up all her strength to hop down off the counter, but still managing to hold onto his hands. “I’ve been neglecting this case I’ve been working for a couple of days now, and I kinda need to pick up my slack.” Even still, Jenny didn’t want to tell him about Trevor Langley. He had only just gotten clean; she didn’t want to add to any pressure that he might be feeling.

“I’m sorry,” Mike apologized sadly.

“Don’t.” She ordered. “It was not your fault. It was my choice. And I don’t regret it. But I’m also not going through that again.”

“You won’t have to.” He assured her. Paul hadn't been kidding when he had told him that going through detox would be the hardest thing he ever had to do. Mike wouldn't wish it on his worst enemy.

“I’m going to make you the same deal I made with Paul,” She told him. “You stay clean and I won’t tell the Bureau. But you slip up once, and I mean _once_ ….”

“I won’t.” He cradled his face in his hands and placed a kiss on her forehead. “I don’t want to go through that again either.”

She looked into his eyes, seeing the sincerity reflected in them. “Okay,” She prayed that he would keep his word. “You sure you still want to stay under with Gusti? Madison’s still a user, right? You’re not going to be tempted?”

“Don’t worry.” Mike told her. Despite all the turmoil he had been through with his detox, he still felt compelled to see this case through. “I’ll be fine.”

“You better be.” She poked his chest playfully. “Because I can still kick your ass.”

“I don’t doubt that.” He smiled and pulled her in for one more kiss. Jenny wanted to fight him, stop herself from melting into him, but he seemed to have a power over her. It was instinct. Her hands moved to his hair without a thought. She held onto him like she was afraid he would disappear any moment. He would reassure her that he wasn't going anywhere, by pulling her tighter to him. 

But still, she reluctantly pulled away from him, knowing that Warner would not be happy with her if she had called in for another day. “Okay, okay,” She giggled as she pushed him back and he kept trying to pursue her. “I need to go and get out of here before I jump your bones.”

Mike sighed as he let go of her, unable to stop smiling. “Fine. Go kick some ass.”

“Always.” She shrugged, letting go of his hands, but immediately missing them. “Have a good day at work, sweetie.” She blew him a kiss as she backed up towards the front door.

“I hope you guys sanitized everything,” Johnny’s voice carried down the stairs.

“Shut up, Johnny.” She called back.

>>>

“An FBI agent?” Jenny could hardly believe her ears. From her teams scouring for clues as to who Trevor Langley was going after, they had found that he had been looking through a database of FBI agents out in the field. He was leaving breadcrumbs behind for her to follow, she just knew it.

“That’s all we’ve been able to find.” Dalton informed her.

“All those street thugs were of almost no help to us.” Warner grumbled. “They all have differing stories about Odin and where he’s been all this time.”

“One guy tried to claim that Odin was a literal god,” Sammy giggled. “And ascended back into heaven.”

Warner had to chuckle at the memory. “Yeah, but he also thought that Sammy was an actual angel, so I’m not sure how reliable he was.”

Jenny sat and thought about this new information. If Odin was in the FBI, chances were that she knew him. But who could it be? She thought back to when Paul had “pretended” to be Odin to rescue Mike from tweakers. This new development, knowing that Langley was closing in, made her extremely nervous. “But we might have a lead.” Dalton smiled at her.

“What?” Her curiosity getting the better of her.

“Well, we were going over the files and notes that you had given us from when you worked the case last year.” He explained. “And while most people seemed to have never actually met this ghost, you do know of one person who met with him.”

“Jeremiah Bello.” Warner told her.

“Bello?” She asked, remembering when Mike was under with him and how he had nearly killed Mike after finding out he was a fed. Bello had been a big-time gangster in his hay day. Dealt with almost any vice under the sun. Which is why Mike went under with him, to try and bring him down. But towards the end of the investigation, they had used him to lure Odin and Jangles out of the woodwork. At Paul’s suggestion.

“You guys set up multiple operations where Bello and Odin met up,” Dalton went on. “But yet, you never caught a glimpse of the guy. Bello could be the one to put a face to a name.”

“You’re suggesting I go pay Jeremiah Bello a visit?” She had to laugh at the idea. “No, I’m not about to get chummy with that man.”

“Jenn,” Sammy spoke up. “Think about it. He’s the only one we know of who actually interacted with Odin Rossi. And I know for a fact that Trevor hasn’t visited him in prison. You could finally pull ahead of him.”

“Guys, I can’t do this,” She argued. “He nearly killed Mike when he found out he was a fed. He’s not going to want to talk with one and give up information.”

“Then, don’t go as a fed.” Warner suggested. “Go in as a potential customer or someone who’s just looking for work.”

“Yeah, who just happens to go to a federal prison for information on the whereabouts on a major drug lord?” Jenny spat. “He’d never buy that.”

“Act like Mike betrayed you, too.” Dalton shrugged. “If you share some commonalities, he might be more willing to talk.”

She tried to come up with any other solution. Any other way to find the true identity of Odin. But with the countless hours of searching by both her and her team had come up empty. Not to mention she was running out of time. “This is nuts.” Jenny shook her head. “I can’t believe that I’m actually entertaining the idea of using a known and convicted gangster as intel.”

“Well, it’s either that or you wait for Lengley to drop a body bag on your doorstep.” Warner snipped. “So, what’s it going to be?”

>>>

_I shouldn’t be here_. She thought as she sat down in the visitation area of the federal prison. Jenny nervously went over her cover story in her head, as she waited for Jeremiah Bello to be brought out to meet with her. Mike would be upset if he knew she was there. But he would probably be even more upset that she had hired someone to kill Sid. But she couldn’t leave. Not now. Not with all that was at stake.

The sound of clanking chains snapped her back to reality. She lifted her gaze to see Bello, being sat down on the other side of the glass. He stared at her in confusion, as they both reached for the phones. Jenny swallowed down any nervousness and adopted a new persona.

“I don’t know you.” The Nigerian gangster spoke into the phone. She had never interacted with him directly, back when Mike was under with him. Through screens, she heard his voice several times. But sitting in front of him, facing his intense stare, she felt like she was in unfamiliar territory. “And I am usually pretty good with faces.”

“You don’t know me.” She replied flatly. Having faced plenty of intense men before, she had practiced how to keep her face clear of any sign of weakness or fear. “And we can keep it that way. But I know you.”

The man scanned her over slowly. Jenny swallowed another nervous feeling. “You’re not my type.”

“No, I know _of_ you.” She leaned forward. “Because we have a mutual friend, as I understand it. Do you remember a marine named Mike?”

She saw him recognize the name, anger boiling behind his brown eyes. The intensity that was already there was cranked way up. “He is no friend of mine.” He spat. Jenny fought the urge to flinch. “if you consider him a friend, then you are no friend to me either.”

“He’s not a friend.” Jenny maintained her cool. “Let’s just say he lied to both of us.”

Bello continued to study her like a painting. “You were involved with Michael?”

She lightly shrugged. “I got a thing for blue eyes. What can I say? But I didn’t know he was a fed until he threw me in jail for drug possession.”

The man cracked a smile for the first time. “The one thing I know to be true about him… he tends to think of himself as a righteous cowboy. And what do you consider yourself to be?”

“A victim.” She replied. “Just got done serving time from it. The guy’s a real scumbag, if you ask me. The second he found out I dealt for Odin Rossi, he stabbed me in the back.”

She saw the recognition of Odin’s name behind Bello’s eyes. He did know him. “You worked for Odin Rossi?”

Jenny nodded. “And that’s why I’ve come here today. Word on the street was you also dealt with Odin.”

“How do you think I ended up in here?” He lifted his wrists to show her the handcuffs around them. 

“I don’t know,” She joked. “Maybe Mike seduced you, too.”

The man did not look like a man who appreciated a good joke. Jenny shouldn’t have tried to joke with him. But it was too late to take it back now _. Just keep it cool, Jenny_. Bello set his jaw, intense stare still falling on her. “What do you want from me?”

Jenny looked around and whispered low into the phone. “I want back in with Odin.”

Bello steeled the expression on his already stoic face. “What makes you think I can help you?”

“Come on, word was that you and Odin had a good thing going on. Maybe you still keep in touch. Me, I was making more money than I have ever made in my life in just one week’s time. But I can’t seem to get in touch with him.”

He seemed to consider her offer for only a moment, his expression still unreadable. “I cannot help you.”

“Yes, you can.” Jenny pressed desperately. “You talked with him. You know what he looks like. Just point me in the right direction.”

“Did you not just get done from serving jail time for this?”

“Guess the rehab didn’t take.”

He leaned back in his chair. “There are other dealers.”

“Not like Odin.” She leaned forward even further, practically steaming up the glass. “Please. Just help me.”

Bello sat quiet for a long moment. Jenny wanted to scream in his face, burst through the glass, and beat him up until he gave her the information she wanted. He held the secret to cracking the Odin case in his mind and she wanted to know. But the glass was bulletproof and attacking him would surely get her badge revoked. Not to mention, get the attention of her roommates. “I cannot help you.” Bello finally replied. He hung up the phone and stood up, letting one of the guards escort him back to his cell.

Jenny slammed the phone back on its receiver in frustration. She had to get information out of him. But if he thought she was not going to keep pursuing him, he was wrong. She was going to find out the identity of Odin Rossi, one way or another.

>>>

Mike stood in front of his mirror, trying to decide which tie looked best with his shirt. A few days ago, Agent Logan had asked him to come into the field office. But of course, he had been…. Well, busy. For most of the day, he had been trying to get a hold of Gusti, who never answered. After the doctor saw to his bullet wound, caused by Mike’s poor aim, he had kicked Mike out. Telling him to take the phone that would receive a mysterious call eventually to arrange where to bring the sarin gas. Mike couldn’t really blame him for being angry. He had screwed up. Big time. But now that he was clean, maybe he could charm his way back in. That is, if Agent Logan didn’t try to rope him into the Sarkissian thing first.

“Hey,” Jenny knocked on the door and leaned in his doorway. “Suit and tie, huh? What, are you going to prom?”

He smirked. “No, I’m meeting with Logan today. Which one is better?” He turned and held up the two ties he held in each hand.

“Go with the blue one,” She nodded. “It’s your color.” Mike started tying it around his neck. “What does Logan want?”

“Not sure.” He replied. “Didn’t really ask.”

“If he’s going to try and push you into this whole Sarkissian drama, you tell him ‘no’.” Jenny told him firmly, watching him tie the tie around his neck. “It’s bad enough Paul’s in it, by choice. I don’t want you getting mixed up in it, too.”

“I’m a big boy, Jenn. Remember?”

“Yeah, a big boy that only just got clean.” She pointed out. “I’m not putting at risk. I don’t care what Logan says.”

“Well, only way to find out.” He remarked, finishing a loop. “I thought you had to work today.”

Jenny swallowed nervously. Having just come from meeting with Bello, she thought she would go back to her old files she had on Odin from when Bello was still a free man. Maybe inspiration would strike. “Yeah, there’s just some old files in my room I wanted to sift through really quick.” She replied casually. “Thought it might help me make some headway in my case.”

“You gonna tell me what your case is about?” Mike asked facing her finally.

Suppressing the urge to blab the whole thing to him, she shrugged nonchalantly. “Not much to tell right now. But I will.” Maybe.

He gestured to his outfit. “How do I look?”

Jenny found herself floating towards him. “Suit and tie, clean shaven, back to your old self. Not too shabby.” He allowed her to wrap her arms around his neck. “Your hair is still long, though.” She started weaving her fingers through his hair.

“You want me to cut it?’ He asked, leaning into her touch and wrapping his arms around her waist.

“No,” She shook her head as she gripped a fistful of hair. “I like it long. Gives me something to hold onto.” Pulling his head towards her, their lips collided hungrily. The need for each other rising slowly as they pressed up against each other, hands refamiliarizing themselves. Self-control was clearly no longer something that either of them were able to show. The heat from their morning make-out session in the kitchen quickly returned, but now, neither one of them could stop themselves if they tried. “When is Logan expecting you?” Jenny asked him, her mouth hovering mere centimeters away from his.

“In about an hour.” He panted back. “Don’t you have work to get to?”

“It can wait.” Her foot reached back to kick his door closed. Then she leapt up into his arms, wrapping her legs around his torso. He caught her expertly, his lips immediately trailing along her neck. Her hands tugged at the tie he had just finished tying, and went to work untwisting it, as he moved them to the bed while reconnecting their lips once again. The familiar shockwave felt between them was enough to shatter the windows.


	14. Doubt

“So, he still wants to screw you after you gave him a broken nose?” Jenny questioned, as Paige performed pull-ups in her doorway. Paige was doing her morning exercises when Jenny was on her way to meet up with Bello once again. But the two of them got caught up in Paige informing her about the update on the Sarkissian case. Apparently, the bust they had tried to do the other night, passing Johnny off as a Mexican gang banger had failed, getting the LAPD sicked on them. The Sarkissians were suspecting that there was a mole in their operation. Paige was still under and was telling Jenny about how much Toros still had his eye on her.

“Well, I played it off as a rough sex act gone wrong.” Paige reminded her, as she pulled herself up on the bar suspended in her doorway. “So it’s not like I blew my cover.”

“Still,” Jenny scoffed. “If a guy broke my nose, I don’t think I would be feeling it anymore.”

Johnny poked his head out his room and spilled out into the hallway to join the two women. “What guy you feeling?”

“God, Johnny,” Jenny rolled her eyes. “Do you have a pervert radar or something?”

“How many chin-ups you doing today, P?” He asked.

“Well, I was up to 8 before you made me lose count.” She hopped down to catch her breath. “And no, I’m not doing a competition with you.”

He giggled smugly. “I’m just saying, I can do 20 one-armed pull ups, so…”

“Congratulations, you’re a gym rat.” Jenny poked at him playfully. “Matches your rat face.”

Mike came up the stairs at that point. He had been out most of the night, trying to follow Paul. After his meeting with Logan, he had a feeling that something was going to happen with him. In his office, Logan had a picture on his desk of his family in front of a car. The license plate number looked familiar to Mike. He was pretty sure he had heard Paul give those plates to someone in the Sarkissians… “Hey, guys.” He got their attention. “Anyone seen Briggs?”

“Not this morning, no.” Jenny shrugged, noticing he was still wearing the suit and tie he had been wearing from his meeting with Logan yesterday. When he had texted her that he was following a lead, she figured it might have had something to do with Gusti. She had grown worried when she found that he had not returned all night. But she thought it would have to do with a relapse. A quick scan told her that he still looked clean, no bloodshot eyes or signs of the shakes, thank goodness. But then, why was he asking for Paul?

“Heard from him?” He pressed, looking to all three of them expectantly. Even though he seemed clean, Jenny noticed a seriousness in his eyes. She tried to mentally prepare herself for what exactly that meant. 

“Nah, bro.” Johnny regarded him carefully, clearly sensing something wrong. “What’s going on?”

Mike wondered if he should lie. Jenny was not going to be happy with the truth. But then again, he had done so much lying in the past and it had only brought him trouble. So he decided to be honest. “Paul kidnapped Logan.”

All three of them dropped their jaws in surprise. “What?” Jenny gasped, feeling anger and worry rise in her stomach. Just when things start to return to normal in the house, things always take a left turn. Now, she was almost wishing that it had only been a relapse.

“What are you talking about?” Paige crossed her arms.

“They grabbed him off the street and threw him in the back of a van.” He reported, trying not to look at Jenny, who he knew was staring daggers at him.

“Wait, hold on,” Johnny rubbed his head. “Who is ‘they’?”

“I’m assuming Ari Adamian.” Mike shrugged.

Jenny knit together her eyebrows. “Hang on, didn’t you just tell me that Paul isn’t under with the Sarkissians anymore?” She asked Paige. “They sent LAPD after him, right?”

“Yeah, we were in lock up for like three hours.” Johnny confirmed.

“Well, if Briggs grabbed Logan,” She reasoned, offering Jenny a hopeful look. “Then, there must be a good reason behind it, right?”

“I know,” Mike nodded. “That’s why I haven’t called this in yet. But I’ve tried to get a hold of him all night, all morning. Nothing.”

“Well, if Logan doesn’t show up, someone’s going to notice.” Johnny shrugged solemnly.

Jenny shook her head violently as she tried to make sense of everything. Her brother was no innocent man; he had done some not so great things before. But kidnapping a federal agent? And the day started out so normal. “Okay, back up. How do you even know this?” She asked Mike.

“I followed him.” He admitted, glancing down at the ground.

“You followed him?” She repeated. So that's why he hadn't been home all night. But why would he feel compelled to follow Paul? Did Logan ask him to, after his meeting at headquarters? Was Paul under investigation? Again. 

But before anyone else could say anything, they heard footsteps ascending the stairs. Everyone looked to see Paul walking towards them. No one spoke a word as he neared them. It was clear by his demeanor that he had a very long night. Jenny could see bags under his eyes. “Hi,” He addressed the group. No one said anything. Instead, they all looked at him expectantly. “Uh, I have a little problem…. I kidnapped Agent Logan.” Jenny wasn’t sure what she was more surprised at: the fact that he had committed such a horrendous act or the fact that he had just admitted it to them.

He brought them all downstairs to listen to a recording of him and Logan. No one said anything, not even Jenny. A rare moment, indeed. Briggs had tied Logan to a chair and was holding him in some abandoned warehouse. After the LAPD raid, Ari and his goons suspected that there was some sort of informant or mole on the inside. Briggs had recorded a one-on-one with Logan, while Ari waited outside. Jenny heard how her brother was giving the man a choice. Blow the cover, have him call in the cavalry and shut it down. Or have him maintain his cover with Ari so they could finally end the case. They all waited with baited breath, as they heard Logan struggle to answer Paul's proposal. 

“You hold your cover,” Logan’s voice ordered. From the sound of his voice, it was clear that he was in pain. The man had gone through various methods of torture, in an effort to get information out of him. Jenny closed her eyes as her stomach sank to the ground. The thought of Paul being compliant with such horrendous acts made her queasy. “I want Martun. You do whatever you have to do. But the second you can get me out… the second… you do it. Paul… I don’t want to die here.” Paul stopped the recording as Paige, Johnny, Mike, and Jenny sat and stewed on all they just heard.

“Oh, my God.” Jenny finally said.

“Dude’s got balls.” Johnny commented.

Paige slumped against the couch. "Jesus Christ, Paul. What have you got yourself into?"

“Come on, Briggs.” Mike looked to Paul. He hadn't been as persuaded by the recording as his housemates. Something wasn't right and he knew it. “Ari isn’t driving this. Three days ago, in your room, I heard you give Ari Logan’s plate number.”

Jenny and the rest of the couch turned to give Paul a look of surprise. Feeling their glares on him, he forced a chuckle. “No, Mike,” He shrugged and held out his hands innocently. “That’s not what you heard. What you heard was Ari giving _me_ Logan’s plate numbers.”

Mike liked to think that spending so much time with Briggs had help him develop a keen sense of when the man was spouting bullshit. Right then, he just knew that Paul was lying. But why? “I know what I heard, and that’s not it.” Mike insisted, making Jenny feel torn between them. Not really sure who to believe. On one hand there was her brother, the man who she had loved the longest and who had repeatedly lied to her face. Then on the other hand, there was Mike, who had also lied repeatedly to her face, and had been battling an addiction for the past few weeks. Truthfully, they were both unreliable witnesses.

“Mike, you were about to vomit your way through a withdrawal.” Paul pointed out. Johnny, Paige, and Jenny turned their gaze at the floor, finally getting the context. Mike had not been himself for a while, but it was really bad in the couple days leading up to his detox.

 _That's a low blow,_ he thought. “Yeah, but that was before.” Mike tried to argue, seeing that he was losing the room.

“You had a full-blown psychotic breakdown, Mike.” Paige told him carefully.

He glanced over to Johnny, who shrugged showing his agreement with Paige and Briggs. "I'm sorry, Mike."

Then, he fixed his gaze towards Jenny. She tried not to look at him. He had been barely lucid to the days leading up to his detox. Not to mention, when he had lashed out at everyone when they had tried to stage an intervention. She wanted to believe him. But she couldn’t. For one of the few times in her life, she was speechless. Instead, she silently bowed her head in shame.

Mike let out a long breath, trying not to feel betrayed by everyone. “Look, I know what I heard.” He continued to insist. “TLX119. That’s what you said on the phone. I didn’t make it up.”

“Yes, you did hear that.” Paul nodded slowly. “Because I was repeating it…”

 _Still bullshit._ “I don’t know what game it is you are playing here,” Mike pushed. “But you don’t have to..”

“Mike, look at me.” He demanded calmly. “This is not a game. Logan is tied to a chair, being brutally tortured by an Armenian mobster, and I'm caught in the middle.”

“Okay, hold on. What do you want us to do?” Jenny asked, hoping to relieve any tension in the air. “Why involve us at all?”

“I can end this.” Paul answered. “But I need my best guys on it.”

“You want us to run the bust?” Johnny asked. “Dude, don’t you remember what happened last time?”

“Last time, we didn’t have Logan being tied to a chair, Johnny.” He countered. “Look, I realize that we’ve all got our own shit to deal with, but I wouldn’t be coming to you with this if I didn’t need to.”

“Well, I can try and control Toros,” Paige suggested. “Seeing that he still wants to get in my pants.”

“Yeah, and he’s getting his initiation into the family business tonight.” Paul thought aloud. “We could use that to our advantage.” 

“That’s convenient.” Mike said curiously. “Logan gets nabbed the night before Toros Berbarian is initiated in.”

“Yeah,” Paul looked at him defiantly. “I guess it’s funny how things work out sometimes.” He turned to Jenny. “Jenn, I don’t know what you got going on with your case, but you think you can spare a day for your bro?”

Jenny sighed. She had hoped to visit Bello in prison again. With helping get Mike clean, she had already taken so many days off from her investigation into Odin Rossi. Her team was getting annoyed with her. But if Paul could finally be out from underneath Logan and Ari, maybe it would be worth one more day. And hopefully, by doing so, she could bring some calm between Mike and Paul. “I’ll go make some calls.”

>>>

“Thanks, Sammy.” Jenny sat in her room, finishing up her phone call. “I knew you’d understand. I will be in tomorrow, no matter what. Tell Warner to stop being such a whiny baby. We are so close to ending this thing. We just gotta hang tight a little longer.” Her phone call was interrupted by Mike knocking on her door. She looked over at him as if she was expecting him. “Hey, Sam, I gotta go.” She told her as she motioned for him to come in. “Yeah, let me know of any changes. Bye.”

“Who’s Sam?” He asked casually, leaning against a wall.

“Some worker bee working my case.” Jenny shrugged, as she tucked her phone in her pocket. “What’s up?” Something told her that she knew what he was about to say.

There was a solemnness to him. A stark contrast to the happy-go-lucky Mike that she had seen only 24 hours ago. “Why didn’t you defend me back there?”

 _Yep, that’s what I thought you were going to ask._ “Okay, Mike, objectively, you were a little out of it a few days ago.” She told him calmly.

“I can’t believe you took his side over mine.” Mike shook his head at her. “After all that he’s put you through…”

“Whoa, I’m not taking anyone’s side. There are no sides. Can you please just...” She tried to place her hands on his shoulders, but he pushed them away. She couldn't help but feel offended by his actions.“Mike, calm down.”

“I’m sorry,” He raised a hand. “But Paul kidnaps his supervisory agent and _I’m_ the one who needs to calm down?”

Jenny pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance. “You’re taking this way too personally.”

“Yeah, I guess I am, Jenn.” Mike set his jaw in anger. “Because I thought that you had more faith in me.”

“I do.” She insisted. “I believe you. I believe that you heard what you heard. Okay?”

“But do you also believe Paul?”

The slight hesitation was all the answer he needed. “Look,” Jenny spoke quickly. “I can’t hop in a time machine and go back to witness the giving of plates myself. What do you want me to do?”

“I want you to show me a little support. Now, _objectively_ , don’t you think it’s a little extreme for Paul to be compliant with kidnapping a federal agent?”

Admittedly, he had a point. Jenny knew that. But she had to keep things as neutral as possible. “It’s no more extreme than framing Ari for the murder of Layla Sarkissian.” She countered, recalling the complicated plan that lead to Colby’s death.

“Exactly,” Mike gestured to her. “You know as well as I do that your brother tends to commit less than savory acts in the name of some twisted form of justice. Logan had him backed into a corner and now he’s lashing out in the only way Paul knows how.”

Jenny listened to his words, feeling a sense of familiarity to them. Then, it suddenly hit her. “Oh, my God.” She closed her eyes and shook her head. “Please, don’t tell me that this is yet another round of Paul vs. Mike.” She couldn’t even count all the times the two men had been at each other’s throats. And it wasn’t the playful kind of ‘at each other’s throats’, like with her and Johnny. When Mike and Paul went at it, it always ended in disaster.

Mike wanted to deny it. But Paul using the man’s addiction to cover up something as silly as giving a plate number… Something didn’t seem right. “All I’m saying is…”

She held up a hand to silence him. “No, I know what you’re saying, Mike. And I’m telling you that I am so beyond over that whole narrative.”

“Hey, I’ve been right about a lot of things we’ve gone toe to toe with.”

“But it almost always ends in a complete and utter disaster, that nearly destroys the house.” He didn’t really have a counter argument to that. She slumped her shoulders in defeat. “Mike, you _just_ got clean. We literally just back to normal less than 24 hours ago. For the first time in a very long time, there was a light of the end of the tunnel. Why do you want to stir the pot right now?”

“I’m not trying to stir the pot,” He tried to argue.

Jenny hushed him aggressively. “Yes, you are. And I will not have it. This Sarkissian case has been nothing but a headache for this entire house for weeks now. I want this to end. We all want this to end. Mike, can we not just have one day of normalcy before you start on this anti-Paul campaign trail?"

Mike glanced down at the ground, wanting to let it go. Wanting so badly to ignore the aching sense that Paul was up to something. For his sake. For Jenny's sake. But he just couldn't. "I know that I was messed up before." He admitted. "And I know that I owe you and Paul and everyone in this house more than I could ever repay. But... that doesn't mean that I'm blind, Jenny. I finally have a clear head and now I can see that he's..."

She let out a frustrated grunt and covered her face. Yeah, the day had started out so normal. Things had just gotten back to normal. "God, I forgot how insanely paranoid sober Mike is." She snapped at him. "But Paul was right before. This is not a game. A man's life is at stake. My brother's career _and_ life is at stake. I don't the luxury of speculation at this point. None of us do. Now, I’m going to go downstairs and see what we can do to put an end to this. You are welcome to join us or you can keep spinning your conspiracy webs until you can hang yourself with them. But I swear to God, Mike, if you are on this with us, then be a team player. I will not tolerate any snide remarks or comments from you about Paul. Am I clear?”

He stared back her, still feeling the same amount of betrayal as he did before. How could she not acknowledge all the lies and backstabbing Briggs has repeatedly done to everyone in the house? But most of all, how could she not side with him? “Yeah.” He replied coldly. “Love you, too.” He made a swift exit out of her room, before she could stop him.

She ran her hands through her hair in frustration. Why could they never have a moment of normalcy?

>>>

“Stake-outs are usually a two-man operation, anyway.” Johnny told Mike as they sat in a car parked across the street from the church. The church was where Paige and Toros had just entered to prepare for the initiation ceremony. Mike had barely been able to shake the feeling that something was up with Briggs. Why did he want both Johnny and Mike watching Paige?

“Are you saying you couldn’t do this on your own?” Mike challenged.

“Whatever, man.” Johnny shrugged. “Paul knows what he’s doing.” _Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of,_ Mike thought to himself.

“Hiya, boys.” Jenny knocked on Johnny’s side of the car. She had just returned from the warehouse where Logan was being stored setting up surveillance. Seeing that Mike was sitting in the driver’s seat, she decided to stick to Johnny’s side. She leaned on the door, placing her hands on the rolled down window.

“Hey, how much?” Johnny joked, as Mike acted like he didn’t see her.

“More than you can afford, junior.” She reached in and flipped his nose. “Come on, let me in.”

Johnny unlocked the back door, so she could slip inside. She placed a large bag next to her and started digging out various devices once she sat down. “What are you doing?” Mike asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

“Well, after setting up surveillance at the warehouse they have stashed Logan,” She explained as she went to work. “Paul thought it would be a good idea to set up a feed for you guys, so you could watch both locations.”

“He did, huh?” Mike glanced suspiciously at her through the rear-view mirror.

“Yeah, Mike, he did.” She spat defensively. Johnny felt the tension in the car rise, making him shift awkwardly in his seat. They sat silently for a while, letting Jenny work to try and set up the video feed.

“What has been Briggs’ biggest obstacle in this case?” Mike asked, no longer able to keep silent. Jenny snuck a glance at the back of his head, but then forced herself to keep working, having run into some slight technical difficulties.

“I don’t know.” Johnny shrugged. “Ari, probably.”

“No, man, it’s Logan.” Mike answered pensively. “Logan’s making him finish this case no matter what happens. He told us that weeks ago.”

“Mike…” She warned him quietly.

Mike was unable to stop. “Even if he arrests Martun, Briggs is still going to get nailed for everything Ari's done."

“All right,” Johnny nodded slowly as he began to understand. “What are you trying to say?”

“Yesterday, Logan had me in his office, and he asked me what Briggs was up to.”

Jenny lifted her head. “You didn’t tell me that.” If Logan was suspicious of her brother being up to something, maybe he was…

He shrugged. “It’s like he could smell that something was off.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t necessarily mean…” But Johnny was cut off by a hot-headed Mike.

‘And that freakin’ plate.” Mike shot a glance in the backseat. “It sounded like Briggs was giving Ari directions.”

She rolled her eyes. "Are you still on that? When are you going to let that go?"

“Stop!” Johnny hollered, clearly tired of hearing all of Mike’s ranting. “Just stop. Look, I hear what you are trying to say, Mike, but I can't get behind it.”

Jenny shot a challenging glance back at Mike. “Thank you, Johnny.” 

“Dude, what are you trying to say exactly?” Johnny asked him bluntly.

“We’re sitting here doing surveillance on somebody who’s not even a liability.” Mike commented, turning his gaze towards the church once again. Toros was never someone that threatened Paul's investigation. Sure, he was about to get initiated into the family business, but he was not an obstacle. At least not in Paul's eyes.

Jenny fiddled one last time with her computer. Ever since sitting down in the car, she had been trying to bring up the live feed of the cameras she had set up at the warehouse. But it had been refusing to load. An error message kept appearing on her screen, saying that there was a problem with the cameras. Jenny bit her tongue, wishing more than anything for a magic wand. “Not to add to the paranoia,” She sighed aloud. “But the cameras at the warehouse aren’t pulling up.”

“What do you mean?” Johnny turned to face her.

“I checked those devices several times before leaving. They were all working, fresh out of the package, fresh batteries...” Jenny shook her head. A strange sense of déjà vu settled in. When they were surveilling Bello, when he was meeting with Odin, they would always run into equipment failure. And it almost always was centered around Paul. “And now, I can’t get them to work to save my life.” Before she had left, she had showed her brother where she had set up the surveillance. He had watched her turn them on. He could have easily turned them off once she had gone...

Mike scoffed in victory. “Briggs didn’t want us here to watch Toros. He never wanted Jenn to set up surveillance.”

“He wanted us out of the way so we wouldn’t watch him.” Johnny sank into his seat as Mike started the car. “Goddammit, Mikey.”

Jenny felt the cold stab of betrayal jab her side like a knife. “But what about Paige?”

“If Toros really likes her,” Mike answered her. “Then he won’t let anything bad happen to her.”

Closing her laptop and settling back into the car seat, she shook her head slowly. “You better be right about this.”

Another glance in the rear-view mirror. “We’ll just see.”

>>>

Paige looked down at the old-fashioned razor in her hand, trying to process all that Toros had just confessed to her. Undercover work was always difficult. You got in close with people, got to know their sob stories, their family, friends, and enemies. Despite all the bad guys she had busted over her career, it only seemed to get harder.

The term “bad guy” seemed so absolute. This person is bad because they sell drugs or that person was bad because they killed someone. Sure those were bad things, but did they equate bad people? Toros was a “bad guy”. He worked for a group of people that sold heavy arms to the highest bidder. Who knows how many deaths the Sarkissians were responsible for? But then, he confesses to her that he came from an abusive household.

What about her? What separated the good from bad? She has been guilty of many bad things. She lied, cheated, even sent a psychotic cop after one of her teammates. So what made her a “good guy”?

She shook her head, trying to get her focus back. There was a mission at hand. Paige couldn’t start getting existential now. Without much more thought, she slipped the razor in purse. Insurance.


	15. Shock

“This is utterly stupid.” Jenny grunted. “Nothing’s happening.” Mike had parked a good distance from the warehouse and been staking out the building for a while. The whole car ride over had been silent. Most of the stake-out had been silent. No movements or sign of Ari, Logan, or Paul. The surveillance cameras Jenny had set up were only trained on the outside. Paul had convinced her that the audio recordings he was doing would be enough. No one wanted to admit all the worries and doubts that they were feeling. Paul was many things, but what exactly was he capable of?

“Yet.” Mike added, still staring at the old decrepit building. Paul’s truck was parked in front, so they knew he was there. But he hadn’t come out since they got there.

“How long are we going to wait?” She demanded. “Just because he’s inside a warehouse doesn’t mean that he’s up to something.”

“Yeah, dude.” Johnny shook his head, feeling just as guilty as Jenny. “Still got any room for the benefit of the doubt? ‘Cause I could sure use some right about now.”

Mike didn’t answer for a moment, his “big ol’ brain”, as Jenny liked to call it, working overtime with all the possibilities and outcomes of the day. “If Logan even makes it out of there, all he’s going to do is continue to manipulate Briggs.” Jenny felt her stomach sink lower, knowing that he had a point. “If you had a problem you couldn’t fix, wouldn’t you just eliminate the problem?”

Jenny leaned forward from the backseat. “You’re talking about _murder_ , Mike.”

“Yeah, is that new for him?” He asked confidently.

Well, he’s no stranger to being around dead bodies, but causing death was another. “A bigwig in the FBI?” She challenged.

“Yeah, that’d be kinda stupid of him.” Johnny agreed. Mike bit his tongue before he started blabbing about Juan Badillo. Juan had been an agent in the FBI, not exactly the same rank as Logan, but Briggs still managed to kill him. But Jenny and Johnny hadn’t heard the tape yet. And now wasn’t exactly to start sharing those details.

Jenny bit her lip in thought. “I’m tired of sitting around theorizing about this.” She spat before making a snap decision. “I’m going in there.” She moved quickly to open the car door, ready to ream Paul’s ass over the coals.

Mike grabbed a hold of her arm to stop her from leaving the car. “Jenny, let’s just call the team first. We can’t just run in there.”

“Yes, we can, Mike. And I am.” Jenny tried to free herself from his grip. If something was going on with her brother, she wanted to see it for herself. She still wasn’t sure if she could fully trust Mike and agree with all his suspicions.

“I’m with Jenny on this one.” Johnny spoke up. “Didn’t you talk us both into coming here?”

“We don’t know what’s going on in there.” Mike said calmly, keeping a firm grip on Jenny’s arm.

“Yeah, hence why we need to storm the castle.” She spat.

“Look, no matter good of shot any of us are, that guy is better.” Mike gestured toward the building. “If I’m right about any of this, if we go running in there, we could be walking in a mine field.”

Johnny sighed as he dug out his phone, calling in a team. “I can’t believe you got me into this, man.”

Jenny looked between both of them in fiery anger. How could Johnny be so easily swayed? And how could Mike suggest any of what he was suggesting? She finally wrenched herself from Mike’s iron grip. “The hell with both of you.” She flew open the car door.

“Jenny. Jenny!” Mike reacted quickly, running around the car and standing in her way. He grabbed a hold of her from behind and ducked her behind a large tree. He didn’t want to call attention to the outside. If Paul or Ari found out they were spying on them, everything would be compromised.

“Let me go, Mike, or I’ll scream.” She wiggled and squirmed, but he was much stronger than her.

“Jenny, I can’t let you go in there without backup.” He allowed her to twist enough to face him, but he held onto her wrists tightly.

“He’s my brother, Mike.” She spat in his face, continuing to struggle against him. “He’s not going to hurt me.”

“He might if you get in the way. And I am not willing to take that chance. OOF!” He doubled over as Jenny raised a knee to his groin. The blow loosened his grip on her wrists, so she seized the moment to make a mad dash towards the building. What she didn’t bank on was having Johnny step out of the car and tackle her to the ground like a linebacker. She let out a yelp as they fell, her knee hitting the concrete, skin splitting open upon impact.

“Jenny, we’re trying to protect you.” Johnny grunted at her, pinning her down on her stomach and twisting her arms behind her back.

“What about him? Who’s protecting Paul?” Jenny spat, turning her head to the side so she didn’t inhale the asphalt.

“You can’t protect him, Jenn.” Mike groaned, still doubled over in pain. “Not from this.”

She tried to fight back tears. It was not very often when she felt helpless. “But what if you’re wrong?”

Slowly, Mike was able to suppress the pain he still felt enough to stand up fully. “What if I’m not?”

Jenny bit her lip, feeling overcome with shame. But most of all doubt. Again. Paul was not an innocent man. He had lied to her plenty of times and did some not so great things. For instance, sneaking away and running from the FBI for over a week. And she was sure many more things she didn’t know about. “Johnny, get off me.” She ordered in a low voice.

“You gonna run in there or not?” He asked carefully.

“Johnny, get the hell off me!” She found a new wave of strength to push herself onto her back, wrenching Johnny’s firm grip off her. Her leg reached up to kick him in the head, as she quickly forced herself to sit. Mike positioned himself to go after her again, but she sat still and held up her hands in surrender. “Fine, you win, Mike.” She admitted softly. “I’ll just stab my brother in the back. Again.” Favoring her bleeding knee, she helped herself onto her feet, refusing the help of either man, and waddled back to the car.

Mike was able to help Johnny to his feet. “Boy, you sure can pick ‘em.” Johnny slapped him on the shoulder, before slowly returning to the car.

>>>

Night had fallen and there still was no movement from the warehouse. Jenny, Johnny, and Mike had geared themselves up with their bulletproof vests, waiting for the TAC team to arrive.

Chewing on her thumbnail, Jenny fixed her gaze on the building. Silently trying to communicate with her brother. Ask him why Agent Logan was still a prisoner of the Sarkissians. Why had he insisted on staying on this case, even after Colby had died? He had tried to claim it was for justice. And Jenny had believed him. But if it all was truly about justice, why was he dragging Logan through the mud?

Mike regarded her stoic and pensive stare. A part of him did wish that his instinct was wrong. Maybe Briggs was just trying to play out the Sarkissian angle and this is just what ended up happening. But he couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that he was right. Either way, what would happen to Jenny? If Paul was the instigator, would she ever forgive him? And if Mike was wrong, what would that mean for the two of them? He stepped towards her, gesturing to her still bleeding leg. “How’s your knee?”

“It’s fine.” She stated in monotone, refusing to look at him. With all of the thoughts and emotions she was feeling, she barely noticed the pain. “But the cold stab of betrayal? That’s another thing.”

He sighed, hoping that they could reach common ground soon. “Look, in some ways, I can’t blame him for wanting to get rid of Logan.” He explained. “You could argue that…”

“Mike, stop trying to make me feel better.” Jenny snapped at him.

“Well, you wouldn’t still be standing here if you didn’t suspect something either.” He pointed out.

She slowly turned her head towards him. He could see the emotional turmoil she felt, for it was clearly written all over her face. “I shouldn’t have to choose between you two.” They maintained eye contact while the black vans full of armed agents pulled up behind them. Jenny withdrew her weapon from its holster. “You better pray to your precious birds that you’re wrong.” She grumbled at him, before arming herself and taking a ready stance next to where Johnny was crouched, peering through binoculars at the warehouse.

“This still don’t feel right.” She heard him murmur to her, as they heard the agents fall in behind them.

“Preachin’ to the goddamn choir.” She muttered back.

Suddenly, they heard sounds of gunshots from inside the building. Jenny felt her stomach churn. “We gotta go.” Mike said, who was perched behind them.

“Wait, hold on, hold on.” Johnny motioned for everyone to stay put. “Ari’s coming out now.” Jenny squinted across the street and saw the Armenian coming from the door.

“Shit, where’s Paul?” Jenny asked no one in particular, the gunshots still very prevalent in her mind. Had Ari shot him? Had Paul shot Logan? Who shot who?

“We need to split the team.” Mike reasoned. “Half of us can follow Ari and take him down.”

“And what about Paul?” Jenny asked, this time to the group behind her.

Mike looked to Johnny, silently asking him to lead the team that follows Ari. Johnny moaned, knowing full well that neither Jenny nor Mike were going to leave. “Dammit. Okay, B team with me.” He and half of the agents silently retreated towards one of the vans.

“You could go with him.” Mike suggested to Jenny foolishly, knowing better.

“Yeah, right.” Jenny scoffed. If Mike was right, she would be here to beat her brother’s ass. If he wrong, she would beat his ass. Either way, she was ready to beat someone’s ass.

With a reluctant sigh, he lead the group towards the building. “The rest of you are with me. Our suspect is Paul Briggs, he may be armed and dangerous. And we may have a body.” Jenny felt his words stab at her like a knife, while she followed him. Still, she forced down any emotion and focused on the mission at hand.

>>>

 _Get out now._ That was the only thought in Paige’s head. Briggs had just called her to let her know that Logan gave her up to Ari after going through quite a bit of torture. Her cover was blown, and it was only a matter of time before Toros found out. And he was not going to take the news well. But she was still at the church, where more and more Sarkissians were arriving by the minute.

 _Get out now._ Excusing herself to go to the restroom, she tried to devise her escape plan. She thanked herself for pocketing the razor from earlier. There was a small window with a screen. The window opened with little no effort and she was able to quickly cut the screen so she could slip out. She was aware of her clean white dress that she wore but did not care if it got dirty when she crawled through the opening and onto the grass.

 _Get out now._ Paige bolted across the lawn, forcing herself not to look over her shoulder. _Where’s my cover team?_ She looked around the parking lot across the street. Paul had placed Mike and Johnny as her back up, but they were nowhere to be seen. Strangely enough, she saw Jenny’s car parked, but no sign of Jenny. But Paige didn’t have time to theorize about where they were and what happened to them. Luckily, she had driven to the church herself. Fishing out her keys from her purse, she dashed for her car and quickly pulled out of the parking lot.

What she didn’t see was Toros watching her escape, anger boiling inside of him.

>>>

“Briggs.” Mike barked as the team surrounded Paul. They were in a large cement room, Paul crouched over a bloodied man. Jenny assumed it was Logan. And from what she could tell, he was not moving.

Paul had his back turned towards the door where they were coming from, but upon hearing his name, he slowly turned towards them. “Mike.” He said, recognizing the voice.

“Let me see your hands.” Mike stated calmly, pointing his gun at him. Jenny walked out from behind him, brother and sister connecting eye to eye instantly.

He was clearly surprised to see her there and pointing a gun at her no less. “Jenny?”

“Just do what he says, Paul.” She said flatly, trying to swallow any emotion she was feeling.

“What are you doing here?” He asked.

“Back away from the body.” Mike ordered.

“Warren,” Anger rose in Briggs like a volcano. “What do you…”

“Back away.” He repeated in a threatening tone.

He looked between Mike and Jenny; whose jaw was clenched so tightly that she was sure she was going to knock a few teeth loose. Again, brother and sister stared at each other for a moment. Jenny tried to maintain a stoic face, but felt incredibly guilty. Slowly, Briggs backed up, away from where Logan laid on the floor.

“Agent Warren,” Everyone was surprised to look down at the supposed body and see the man alive. He was struggling to free himself from the freshly loosened restraints that held him to the chair. “What the hell is this?” He demanded, forcing his way to his feet.

Jenny felt a rush of emotion in exactly one second. Confusion, anger, shame, regret, relief. The man looked like he had been brutally tortured, but he was still alive. She could hardly believe it. “Sir…” Mike was just as stunned as she was. “Sir, are you okay?”

“No, Warren.” Logan grunted, as he was finally able to stand. Blood stains were plastered all over his blue shirt, almost as if he had brutally murdered someone. “I am not nearly okay.” He slowly lifted his shirt to reveal that he was wearing a bullet proof vest underneath. A few bullets were lodged in the tough fabric. “Agents, stand down.” The team of agents around them lowered their weapons obediently. Jenny slowly lowered hers, but Mike held his aim true.

“So, you both want to tell me,” Paul finally stepped forward addressing Mike and Jenny. “What the hell you are doing here?”

Jenny opened her mouth but couldn’t find the strength to speak. All the emotions she was feeling slowly took over her, freezing her in place. “You put me on Toros,” Mike spoke up for her. “So that you could…”

“So that I could what?” He challenged. “Goddammit, Mike. Will you please put the gun away? Unless you’re going to shoot me.” Jenny looked over at Mike. How could she have let him turn her against her own brother?

“I didn’t go through all this shit for nothing, Warren,” Logan ordered. “Now, put it down.” Slowly, Mike lowered the gun, but still held it tightly.

“Jenny,” Her brother addressed her. “Call up Johnny. Tell him that Paige has been burned.”

“What?” She gasped, feeling more emotions add onto her pile.

“Burned, her cover is blown.” He repeated. “He needs to stick tight to Toros, in case he tries to follow her.”

“Johnny’s following Ari to arrest him.” Mike told him. To say that he felt a lot of regret in that moment would not begin to cover it. Would Jenny ever forgive him?

“Oh, my God.” Jenny squeaked out, tears brimming. Paige was in danger. Because of them. She ran back through the door, not even bothering to see if they were following her.

Logan grabbed a walkie off the nearest agent and ordered for Johnny and his crew to stand down from taking down Ari Adamian. Paul took a step towards the still stunned Mike. “Who’s on Paige?”

Mike slumped his shoulders. “Nobody.”

Briggs nodded angrily at him, still feeling the sting of his betrayal. “You might want to take a cue from my sister, then.”

They all raced outside where Jenny was already at work, trying to ping Paige’s cell phone off her own cell phone. Tears nearly blurred her vision, but she pushed through it, trying pull up the location of her friend. Paige was in trouble. Because she let herself get sucked into Mike’s conspiracy theories. If anything happened to her…

By the time, Mike reached the outside where Jenny was, she was already halfway to finding her. “Jenny, I’m…”

“Don’t.” She held up a hand to him, but kept her focus on her work, waiting for the screen to load. “I nearly have her.”

“So, mind telling me why I just got stabbed in the back?” Paul, who just waltzed over to them, asked hotly.

“I just thought…”

“Yeah, well, clearly, you thought wrong, Mike.”

“Shut up, both of you!” Jenny screamed, just as the location of Paige’s cell came up on her phone screen. “She’s home.” She reported, fearing for her friend. “She’s at Graceland right now.” Again, she took off towards the nearest car, Paul and Mike trailing close behind her.

“Can you get a trace on Toros?” Mike asked her, as they made it to the car. He fished the keys out of his pockets quickly.

“No, not in time.” Jenny told him, hopping in the passenger seat. Jenny had been able to get a trace on Paige so quickly because she already knew her number and had installed programs on her phone to triangulate her position quickly. Unfortunately, too many of her housemates needed to be traced a lot. To get a trace on the man’s cell phone would require her to find his phone number and triangulate the location. Even with Jenny’s amazing skills, it would take at least 30 minutes.

“Well, at least give it a try.” Paul urged her, begrudgingly sliding in the backseat. “I’ll try to reach her on her cell. I can’t believe you two.”

“Paul, you were…”

“I said shut up!” Jenny screamed at them violently. “Now, I don’t want to hear another word out either of your mouths unless it’s ‘Paige is okay’. You got me?” Both of them silently agreed, as Mike sped off into the night. Everyone prayed they would make it in time.

>>>

Strangely, Paige felt numb. She should feel all sorts of things. Toros laid on the living room floor of Graceland, throat slashed open. The razor that he had trusted her to shave his arms just hours earlier to help prepare for his initiation tattoos was the thing that did him in. As she stared down at him, she saw the razor still in her hands. But she also saw her white dress covered in blood. He had followed her home, pushed his way into the house, and started choking her. It was self-defense, right? Many people would react wildly to a situation like this. But not her. Numb was the only thing she felt. _It’s shock. I’m going into shock._

The sound of the front door being pushed open and someone calling her name sounded muffled, almost like she was underwater. Her movements were slow, but she eventually turned around to see Paul, Mike, and Jenny standing before her, the shock on their faces very present. A few seconds later, Johnny came running through the door and joined the group. Page looked from person to person, as if they were about to hit the reset button on all the events that transpired that evening. Jenny’s face looked the most shell-shocked. A hand covered her mouth as she stared down in horror at the body. The body that Paige had just killed only seconds ago. Soon, Paige became aware of her cheeks getting wet. At first, she thought it might have been a leak in the ceiling. But it wasn’t a leak. It was her. She was crying. But still, she felt numb. _It’s shock._

Eventually, Paul started talking, telling the group that they had to clean this up. He suggested that they bring the body back to Ari’s place and stage his death as a suicide. But Paige didn’t hear him. She saw the four of them start to wordlessly gather up cleaning supplies. The whole house was eerily quiet, despite all the people currently inside it. No one spoke or even made a sound. They were all in some sort of shock, moving almost like robots. Paige tried to help mop up the blood and scrub the carpet beneath Toros. Still completely numb.

Her eyes landed on the razor that she had dropped on the floor, though she didn’t remember when. She picked up, seeing all the blood still on it. Toros’ blood. For the first time since it happened, she felt her hands trembling. Her numbness was wearing off. Panic, regret, shame, and horror started set in, making her hands shake more and more. A hand gently reached over the razor and tried to steady her hands. Jenny gave her a reassuring nod, and Paige let go of the razor, watching as Jenny wiped it clean, her face expressionless. Paige felt her cheeks get wetter and her hands shake more.

“Why don’t you go wash off?” Jenny suggested, but again, her voice sounded muffled to Paige. Nodding slowly, Paige seemed to float towards the stairs, her mind on autopilot. It was time to wash off her sins.

Jenny watched her friend go upstairs, clearly still in shock. Hell, Jenny was in a state of shock herself. Never in a million years would she have guessed that she would have done what Paul had asked them to. Paul could maintain his cover with Ari if Toros committed suicide. But all of the decisions that lead to that outcome, it all lead back to two individuals. Johnny went to grab a tarp in the basement, leaving Jenny, Mike, and Paul alone in a room with a dead body.

“I’m…” Jenny spoke for the first time in several minutes. “I’m going to go lie down.”

“Jenny…” Mike slowly stood up to try and comfort her.

She faced him and her brother, a wild look in her eye. All the shock she had felt before slowly fading away. “No, I don’t want to hear a goddamn word. From either of you.” She felt the amount of anger start to affect her tear ducts but couldn’t be stopped. Her voice was slow and quiet, but the feeling behind it spoke volumes. “You see, this is exactly what happens when it’s Mike versus Paul. And I am so sick of always ending up here.”

“Nobody wanted a dead body, Jenn.” Briggs tried to soothe her.

“No, but that’s what we got.” She pointed towards the body in horror. “That thing is there because of you two.”

Paul felt his own shock wearing off slowly. The anger he felt before slowly returning. “Well, if we had just stuck to my plan…”

“God, you’re so full of shit!” Mike exclaimed suddenly, feeling his anger rising too. “Everyone here knows it.”

“Oh, is that so?” Paul addressed him. “Jenny, do you really think I’m so full of shit?”

“No, I am not getting in the middle of this. But that is exactly the problem.” Jenny spat as Johnny returned with the tarp, feeling the tension in the room.

“What’d I miss now?” He asked the group.

“We’re all in the middle of this, Jenny.” Mike felt the words spew out of him and hurled towards Paul. “What Paige did was self-defense, but instead, we covered it up to help maintain your cover.”

“Well, what would you like to do, Mike?” Briggs took a step towards him. “Do you want to report it? You want to burn Paige and the house?”

“This isn’t about the house, okay?”

“Yes, it is.” Jenny stepped in. “Mike, you literally just said that we are all in the middle of this. The reason why Paige had to go Sweeney freakin’ Todd in our living room is our fault. Will you listen to yourself for one minute?”

“Guys, can we chill?” Johnny gestured toward the corpse on the ground. “We gotta get that out of here soon.”

“I would love that, Johnny.” Jenny barked at him with an icy tone. “But unfortunately, Mike and Paul are dragging us into their shit, again.”

Mike ignored both of them and turned back towards Briggs, jabbing a finger in his direction. “If you were really so concerned about Paige, maybe you shouldn’t have let Logan burn her.”

“Logan was being tortured, Mike.” Paul said defensively. “And I will have you know that after Logan gave her up, Paige, who happens to be my friend, got an immediate phone call from me…”

“Even right now, he’s playing angle.” Mike then shifted his focus to Johnny and Jenny. “Do you not see this?”

“Do you want to know what I see right now, Mike?” Jenny asked rhetorically. “I see a couple of dumbasses who are still trying to outsmart each other and letting everything else crumble around them in the process. Exhibit A.” She gestured again towards the body on the floor. “Whatever beef you two have with each other, you need to sort that shit out. And please, in effort to avoid any other bodies dropping, leave me and the rest of this house the hell out of it.” Finally having enough, Jenny stomped upstairs, speeding to collapse on her bed, away from the troubles. So much for normalcy.

The men in the living room took a moment. Johnny finally spoke up. “She might have a point, Mike. The only reason why Paige was in danger was because we weren’t there.”

“Yeah, and who’s genius idea was that again?” Paul asked, staring daggers at Mike. “Maybe you should start listening to me.”

Mike set his jaw. “I’m done listening to everything you say, man.”

“Dude, if he’s playing an angle,” Johnny rolled his eyes, ready to be done with the conversation. “What angle is he playing?”

The blonde man had to answer honestly. “I don’t know.”

“Well, I know something, Mike.” Paul took yet another step towards him, the distance between them getting smaller by the second. “When you wanted to leave a canister of sarin gas in the back of some beat-up Pontiac, the whole house trusted you, didn’t we? No, you don’t have to trust me. You don’t have to respect me. I really couldn’t give a shit. But before you start pointing fingers at me, you might want to look at yourself first.” He then gestured to Johnny to help him wrap up the dead Armenian still staining the carpet.

Mike stared at a spot on the ground, feeling frustrated. Sure, he felt partly responsible for the mess they were currently cleaning up. But Paul was working some sort of angle. He just knew it. What exactly it was, he didn’t know. Yet. The question was, would Jenny ever understand?


	16. Implode

Jenny had lied to her team. She had told the day before that she was trying to get in with Bello. Even today, she had told them that she was still with Bello. But she wasn’t. She just didn’t want to admit that she had to take yet another personal day. She sat in the kitchen, playing with the ice cream in front of her. Ice cream had sounded like a good idea, perhaps some comfort food would help bring solace. But it didn’t. She didn’t have an appetite. Her eyes were gazing out at the living room. At the spot where Toros’ body once laid.

She hadn’t spoken to Paul or Mike last night. What else could she say to either of them? Jenny had made her opinion known for everyone to hear. It was their turn to come to her. She had let Mike doubt her own brother. Again. She had let Paul talk her into covering up a murder. Some part of her wished that she could walk away from both of them. Maybe she should. Maybe she should hop on the next plane out of town and go literally anywhere else.

A hand on her shoulder jolted her back to reality. Looking up, she saw Charlie, gazing down at her. “Hey, kiddo.” She greeted, her eyes still groggy from her travelling across the country.

“Mama.” Jenny couldn’t help herself. She stood up, threw her arms around her friend, and felt tears pouring from her cheeks. She felt joy to see her friend back home after being away for so long, who was finishing up her Florida case, but she also felt like she needed a friend more than anything. And who better to vent all her problems to than Charlie? Jenny let all the events that happened within the last 24 hours spill out of her, finding it almost therapeutic to talk about it.

Charlie sat and listened to her story quietly. When it got to the part of cleaning up after the dead body, she didn’t scream or lash out. She was concerned, of course, but no outbursts. It seemed to Jenny that she had a lot on her mind. “Jesus, this house,” Charlie sighed at the end of Jenny’s story, rubbing her temples. “I’m sorry you had to go through all that, kiddo.”

“Yeah, but that’s the thing…” Jenny tried to wipe her eyes dry. “I keep willingly putting myself in this situation. I could have left this place long ago, but instead, I chose to stay. And now, I literally have blood on my hands.”

It was hard to find a good pep talk with all the shit that the house had just been through. But Charlie tried to find some sort of silver lining, for Jenny’s sake. “You stayed because of Mike, right?”

“No, I stayed because of Paul.” Jenny answered almost automatically, thinking back to when she used to suspect him of using again or… being Odin Rossi.

“No, you didn’t.” Charlie gave her a knowing smile. “It was Mike.”

She wanted to deny it. The reason she had given everyone was for Paul. But way down deep, she knew that it had been for Mike. “Yeah, but now he’s the reason why I want to leave.”

Charlie looked at her with her knowing “mom” face. “But he’s also the reason why you’ll ultimately stay.”

Jenny fought another sob but lost. She felt like such a hormonal teenager, crying over a boy, but all of her emotions were coming out at once. “I don’t know anymore, Charlie. I can’t keep waiting around for him to hurt me again and again. It’s the definition of insanity. I keep getting myself into the same situations over and over, expecting a different outcome each time, but it always ends the same way. It always ends up being Paul versus Mike, with me getting stuck in the middle. Any time that Paul and Mike have butted heads, it’s always been a complete disaster.”

“And now you don’t know who to choose.” Charlie nodded slowly, making a connection to her own story.

“But I shouldn’t have to choose.” Jenny spat. “It shouldn’t have to be one or the other.”

Charlie shifted in her chair slightly. “So you need to find a way to split the difference.” The way she said it made Jenny look at her curiously. She knew that Charlie wasn’t talking about Mike or Paul. After a brief pause, Charlie took a deep breath, preparing to say the speech she had been rehearsing in her head on the plane ride home. “Remember that night, when you and Paige dropped me off at the clinic? Well, I got there and sat in that waiting room, ready to go through with it. But, um…. I couldn’t do it. The longer I sat there, the more… I just couldn’t do it. So, I let everyone think otherwise. It was either lose the baby or lose the case. But I had to split the difference.”

Jenny’s eyebrows twitched. “So, you’re still pregnant?”

Making sure that she wasn’t going to cry, Charlie pushed through. “I was. Up until a couple days ago. This shithead dealer dosed me with these hardcore psychedelics and… now, it’s gone for real.” Jenny reached over to hold her friend’s hand tightly. “I didn’t tell you guys because I thought I would figure it out eventually. That maybe after I got Germaine… maybe things would be different. I just felt cornered, you know? I mean, your brother…”

“Does he know?”

“Not yet.” She shrugged her heavy shoulders. “That’s sort of what I’m working up the courage to do now.”

Jenny felt unqualified to give her pep talk. Her heart broke for her friend. She knew that Charlie would have made an excellent mother and how excited she had been to become one. Losing her baby to a couple of shithead dealers… it was almost too much think about. “He deserves to know.”

“Yeah, I know.” Charlie took a deep breath and looked back at Jenny. “Look, my point is, I don’t regret my decision to keep the baby. I would make the decision again, if I could. I maybe could have given a little more thought to the whole thing, but… you love Mike _and_ Paul.”

She let out a bitter chuckle. “But it seems as though, I can’t have both. What if the universe or whatever is trying to give me a sign? I mean, every time Mike and I get to a good place, it only lasts for a minute. And then, in a blink of an eye, it all turns to shit. And the same thing with Paul. One minute, he’ll be the best big brother in the world, and then the next he’s… Maybe the writings been on the wall this whole time, and I’ve been too stubborn to read it. Maybe I’ve been given this choice, because Mike and I were never supposed to be. And I can’t walk out on my own brother. I can’t… I can’t make this choice.”

The two of them sat quietly for a moment. The ice cream that Jenny had brought out was now completely liquified. Which almost mirrored how either of them felt at that moment. “I think that sounds like horseshit.” Charlie finally said. “Screw the universe. You don’t believe in that shit anyway. Go with your gut.” She patted Jenny’s hand and slowly rose to her feet. “That’s what I did. And what I’m about to try and do now.” Charlie then slipped upstairs, trying not to talk herself out of confronting Paul.

>>>

The stain was gone. There was no more blood to be seen. The large rug that sat on the floor before had been tossed out, since it had soaked up most of the blood from Toros. But Jenny still couldn’t bring herself to stay in the room for very long. The ghost of what was once there still haunted her. Consequently, she hid up in her room, reading up on her old files about Odin Rossi, just wanting to get her mind off the problem of the house.

It had only been a year since they had last ran into Odin Rossi. Back when Mike had first came to Graceland and Paul was hunting down Jangles. It almost seemed like a simpler time, even though it did not seem so at the time. But what she had forgotten about was when she and Mike had gone behind Paul’s back to see if he had anything to do with Agent Juan Badillo’s disappearance. And… hiring Fred Walsh to investigate her brother to see if he had any connection to Odin Rossi. Yet another time when she betrayed her brother. But it had been justified back then. She had been worried that he was using again or up to something. Now… she couldn’t think of anything he would be up to, other than ending the Sarkissian case. Paul had a prime time to get rid of Logan when he had kidnapped him, but he didn’t. That had to mean something.

Jenny tried to shrug off the thought and refocus her attention to reading over her notes and files. She stumbled upon the first time she had been on an op with Bello, Paul acting as a guide to Odin. The original plan had been for Odin to meet up with Bello to start a business relationship. Paul’s watch had gone out, and they never caught sight of the mysterious drug overlord. “Paul?” was written in big letters in her notepad, circled a bunch of times. At the time, Jenny had suspected her own brother of being Odin Rossi.

 _No, that’s crazy_ , she thought to herself. Paul can’t be Odin. But her brain did think about how there had been no Odin activity since Paul ran away. _No, stop it. You’re starting to think like Mike._ The last time she doubted her brother, it had caused Paige to slice an Armenian’s throat open in the living room.

Her phone rang and she quickly answered it, not bothering to look at who was calling. “Yeah,” She answered, relieved for any distraction from her mind.

“Hey, Jenny.” Warner’s voice came through on the other end. A new sense of guilt settled in her stomach. She had been very much neglecting her own team lately. “Are you still with Bello?”

“Yeah…” Jenny stood up and let her mind race with a cover story. “The guy’s still not talking, but I think I’m getting somewhere. What’s up? You find anything?”

“Oh, I think I might have found something.” There was something in his tone that was scratched at her ear. “But I need more info before I can leap to any conclusions.” Jenny heard the doorbell ring and stuck her head out into the hall.

“Hang on, Warner,” Jenny lowered the phone, making sure to cover up the receiver, and hollered at the room. “Hey, anyone expecting anybody?”

“Jenn, that could be my package from Amazon.” Johnny called from the bathroom. “Can you go get it?”

“Why can’t you?”

“Uh…. Well….”

She grimaced. “Never mind, I got it.” Jenny grumbled and made her towards the door. “Sorry, Warner.” She lifted the phone to her ear again. “Some guard was trying hit on me. These guys are such pervs.” The lies came out of her like she had rehearsed them, even though they were lies pulled from thin air. It almost scared her. Jenny reached the landing and walked towards the door. “So, what information did you find? Maybe I can help.”

Jenny opened the door but did not find a delivery man standing in front of her. Instead, she was faced with Warner, glaring at her. “Oh, I think you’ve done quite enough.” He said spitefully. He lowered the phone and pushed past her into the house to investigate. Jenny was so stunned that she didn’t even put up a fight.

“Warner, what the hell are you doing here? How’d you find me?” The shock still present on her face.

The man looked around the living room. “Pinged your cell phone, genius. So this is what you’ve been doing while we’ve been slaving away? Just living it up in a beach house?”

An alarm was blaring in her head. Johnny was still home. She glanced up the stairs and spoke quietly, but forcefully. “You can’t be here. No one knows that I’m working this case and I intend to keep that way.”

Warner’s anger was far from over. “Wait, this is where you live? So you’ve been having a nice little staycation, while Dalton, Sammy and I have been hitting the pavement trying to cover your ass?”

“Warner,” She gripped his wrist with an iron grip and started dragging him back towards the door. “I will explain everything to you, as soon as you leave this house.”

“No, Jenn.” He fought against her. “You lied to us. You told us that you were with-“

“I swear to God,” She seethed at him, practically digging her nails into his arm. “If you do not leave this house right now, I will shoot you in the face.” Neither one of them notice the front door opening.

“You know, I didn’t want any part of this.” Warner shook his head at her. “I should have listened to my gut from the beginning and walked out on you. I should have known that this would have happened. Again. But here you are, the great Jenny Briggs, ready to use anyone until she gets her way and then run away and abandon them as soon as she….”

“Warner,” Jenny started to feel a tightness in her chest. Was she about to go into cardiac arrest? Panic consumed her and oxygen seemed to be depleting from the room with every passing second. “Believe me when I say, that I literally can’t deal with this right now. Whatever is going on has nothing doing to do with you. And I know that you probably hate me right now. And I don’t blame you. But the whole world doesn’t revolve around you. Now, get out of here before someone sees you.” She turned to drag him towards the door but froze almost instantly. “Mike?” For the second time that day, she was surprised to find someone standing before her. She was also surprised she hadn’t fainted yet.

Mike had only just returned from Gusti’s and looked between Jenny and the new guy, feeling a renewed sense of anger. “What the hell is this?”

“Oh, you’re Mike.” Warner chuckled darkly. “Of course, you are. So, now it all makes sense.”

“Shut up, Warner.” Jenny seethed at him again.

“Who is this guy?” Mike asked, folding his arms across his chest.

“I could ask you the same thing, bro.” Warner challenged, finally wrenching his wrist free from Jenny. “So what, are you like her sugar daddy or something?”

“Warner, leave. Now!” Jenny spat.

“I think the lady asked you to leave.” Mike stood toe-to-toe with Warner, not backing down.

“Yeah, what are you going to do about, Hollister?”

Jenny rolled her eyes. “Oh, my god, men are ridiculous. Boys, put the measuring sticks away before you poke someone’s eye out. Warner, for the very last time, leave this house or I promise you, I will actually shoot you in the face.”

Warner chuckled again at her. “Yeah, promises. Well, no offense, Jenn, but your promises don’t mean shit.” But he finally walked towards the door. He grabbed a hold of the door handle before looking back at her again. “Good luck on everything, Jenny. Seems like you’ve got it pretty good after all.” The slam of the front door nearly shook the whole house. Jenny stared at it, feeling nothing but shame and regret.

“Wow,” Mike said slowly, shaking his head. “So am I going to get an explanation or are you going to let me draw my own conclusions?”

“Mike,” Jenny held up a hand towards him, trying to shove all her emotions down her throat. “My tolerance level for this kind of bullshit is literally nonexistent right now. So I don’t want to hear it.”

“Don’t want to hear it?” He repeated incredulously. “Well, I didn’t want to come home today to find you with some guy…”

“Oh, my god!” Jenny forced herself to laugh, so she didn’t scream. Slowly, she turned to face him again. “Are you serious?”

The blue in his eyes had slowly faded to red. “Yes, completely. I want to know who that Warner guy was and what he was doing here.”

“Mike, with all the bullshit we have had to go through within the last few days, do you really think that this is important at all?”

“It is if you’re fooling around with someone else.”

Now, the anger took over and erupted. Again. “Oh, my god, I am working a case with him, you dick. That’s it. And I’m sorry, does the name, Jessica Foster, ring any bells?”

He set his jaw in defiance. “We were not together then, and you were messing around with Zelanski if you recall…”

“It doesn’t matter, Mike! It doesn’t matter. Because Warner and I were never a thing and I’m not having this conversation with you.” She took a step to escape upstairs, but he got in her way.

“What’s this case you’re working on?” He questioned aggressively. “How did he know me?”

She grunted in frustration, still refusing to talk about her case to him. “Stop with the paranoia. And stop looking for conspiracies where there are none.”

“Oh, so that’s what this is about, then?” Mike stared back at her, eye still ablaze. “You’re trying to get back at me for what happened with Paul.”

“God, what is it with men today?” Jenny asked rhetorically. “Not everything revolves around you, Mike.”

“So you’re not mad at me then?”

“Of course, I’m mad at you. I’m furious, but Warner has nothing to do with that.”

Mike dug into his back pocket and unfolded the piece of paper to show her. Jenny glanced down to see the flier she had created and passed out at Gusti’s apartment before Mike decided to get clean. The red birds and the number for the rehab clinic stared back at her. “Still think Paul’s innocent in all this?” Mike asked hotly.

“What are you talking about?”

“These fliers were passed out all over Gusti’s apartment complex. Right when I was about to steal a thing of morphine from Gusti, I saw these and thought they were some sort of sign to get clean. These were the reasons why I went into detox, and Paul knew about my journals and he knew what I saw. He knew that if I saw these birds, it would push me…”

“Oh, for the love of God, I made those, dumbass.” Jenny admitted.

Mike stared back at her in disbelief. “You did?”

“Yeah, and I was the one who placed them over Gusti’s apartment.. Paul barely understands how to copy and paste. Do you really think he could handle photoshop?”

He felt angry, of course, but now it was more like used. It made sense that Paul would use him like a pawn in a chess game; it was nothing he hadn’t done before. But Jenny? “How could you?”

“Mike, you had disappeared for two days. You were going way off the deep end. We had to do something.”

“We?”

Jenny shook her head, knowing how he was going to take this. “Paul and I...”

“I knew it.”

“There is no conspiracy against you, though.” Jenny argued. “We did it for your own good. There was no master plan. We both agreed that it was the only way to get through to you.”

“And I’m supposed to believe you?” Mike challenged. “You used me, Jenny. You knew that I was searching for answers and you used that against me.”

“To get you clean! I’m not sorry for that.”

“So you and Paul are in on something now?”

“I don’t know how to make this clearer to you, Mike. Making this flier was the beginning and end of the conspiracy. This flier was the only thing we did behind your back.”

“Except with Warner just now.”

Jenny had to force a laugh again, clenching her fists and trying not to let them fly at his face. “Okay, Mike. I can’t do this anymore. I’m so fed up with this bullshit. I’m not perfect, I know that. I have made plenty of mistakes. But I have never done anything in hopes of hurting you. When you vanished for two days, only to end up being held captive by meth heads, I knew that I had to do something. I am not sorry for making these fliers and I am not sorry about pushing you to get clean.”

“Why won’t you tell me about Warner?” He pressed, not willing to stop.

“I told you he’s working a case with me!”

“Then, what did you lie to him about?”

“Oh, my god! I’m done, Mike. I can’t do this with you anymore. I can’t keep having this same argument with you over and over again.” Her eyes fell to where her purse sat on the kitchen counter. Without another thought, she stomped over to grab it and made her way towards the front door. “And you know what? I think I’ll take a page out of your book.” Jenny stomped out of the house, ready to hop into the nearest car and never look back. Graceland was becoming toxic; she needed to get away.

>>>

“I thought I had made my position clear to you.” Bello told Jenny from the other side of the glass. “I cannot help you.” After storming out of Graceland, she decided to throw herself into working her Odin case, especially since her team was no longer returning her calls. Warner had probably told them all about her lying and beach house. She didn’t blame them for hating her. She was starting to hate herself.

“I lied to you before.” Jenny was not in the mood for games. Still reeling from her argument with Mike, she was on a one-track mind. “I’m not a dealer. I’m a fed.” She pushed her badge on the glass for him to see.

A flash of anger passed over his face. “I knew you could not be trusted.” There was nothing he wanted more than to punch a hole through the glass but was hyper aware of the security guards keeping a close eye on him.

She continued on as if he hadn’t said anything. “I can help you, Bello. I have a lot of hands in many different pockets; I can make things happen for you.”

“Like what?”

Jenny shrugged. “What do you want?”

Bello thought for a moment before shaking his head. “No, we are done here.” He moved to hang up the phone, but Jenny stood, resting a desperate hand on the glass.

“No, wait.” It could have been her commanding tone or the intimidating look in her eye, but Bello felt compelled to listen to her. “You don’t want to be outed as a snitch. I get that. You’re trying to maintain whatever street cred you have left. I may be a fed, but I am not here on official business. Why do you think you’re not in an interrogation room? This is as personal as it gets. Odin Rossi has caused me and the people I care about a lot of despair and I want it to end. Whatever you tell me now will only stay between us. Your reputation will remain intact and you’ll never have to see me again.”

He leaned in closer to the glass. “As tempting as that may be, I am not saying a word.”

“Fine, you don’t have to say anything.” Jenny sat down and removed a case file from her purse. Before stopping by the prison, she had gone to headquarters to pull whatever files she could on Odin Rossi and… others. “Odin Rossi was an expert at being a ghost.” She explained as she flipped through it. “And as good of a relationship the two of you had, I doubt that he would have been careless enough to reveal his identity. The only contact info you have on him is probably long been disconnected by now. So that only leaves you with one option. Facial recognition.” Jenny stared back at Bello intensely. “I’m going to show you a series of photographs of potential Odins. You don’t have to say anything. But as hard as you are trying to maintain your stoic demeanor, Mr. Bello, you aren’t that hard to figure out. If you recognize any of these photos, I’ll know.”

Jenny didn’t wait for him to respond. She slapped the first photo onto the glass. It was a photo of some low-level junkie that had only just been arrested a couple days ago. And by the looks of it, Bello didn’t recognize him. _Good, he passed the placebo,_ she thought.

She pressed the second photo against the glass, this time it was a photo of Quinn, an old suspect that was the favored identity of Odin Rossi, but there was no evidence to support it. Bello remained stoic, but no flash of recognition on his face. In truth, she wasn’t sure if she would be able to tell if he recognized anyone, but she was beyond desperate at this point.

Next, she showed him a picture of Dale Jakes. Jenny highly doubted that Jakes would have had the aptitude to pull off being Odin, but she thought she would give it a try. Again, Bello did not know him. In fact, he almost looked bored.

“Are you through yet?” He questioned confidently.

“Nearly.” Jenny stared down at the last pic that she wanted to show him, feeling her entire body scream against it. “I know you that you know this next guy,” She said, not quite ready to show the picture. “But he was also on the suspect list for a while. And I want to know if there’s any merit to this theory. Is this man Odin Rossi?” With a sigh, Jenny held up the photo of Paul Briggs, her brother, to show Bello. A familiar stab of betrayal pricked at her stomach. At this point, however, she just had to find out the truth. Jenny stared back at Bello, holding her breath awaiting his response.

The Nigerian looked for a moment at the photograph and then back to Jenny. “We are done here.” He finally hung up the phone and signaled for the guards to take him back to his cell. Jenny was frozen in her chair, the photo still hanging in the air. She had called her own bluff. There was a flash of recognition in Bello’s eyes when he saw Paul. And if he was walking away now, it seemed that he had answered her. It couldn’t be true. Paul couldn’t be Odin. She couldn’t have sent a hitman after her own brother. And Trevor had told her that he was getting close… Oh, god. In alarm, she rose to her feet and collected her files to place in her bag.

Jenny made a beeline the door, zipping through security to get her car keys and phone back, and practically raced towards her car. Without thinking, she placed her phone in her purse as she exited the building. _Wait, I should call someone,_ she thought. But who? She couldn’t call Mike; he probably wouldn’t answer anyway. There was no way she would be able to explain everything to her own brother. But maybe Charlie… A hand crammed in her bag, searching for her phone. Stopping on the sidewalk, Jenny peered inside in search of it. Her eye fell on her phone that was resting on top of a familiar piece of paper. She pulled both of them out. One of the rehab fliers with Mike’s red birds that she had made was still in there from when she had passed them out at Gusti’s apartment building. Apparently, she had missed one.

Guilt settled in yet again. Maybe it was wrong of her to have used Mike’s birds against him. When Paul had brought it up to her, she remembered being hesitant about it. But as the hours passed, she grew less and less wary of making them. _Maybe I should call Mike… After all, he’s the reason why I’m even in this mess in the first place._

But before Jenny could dial the phone or take a step towards her car, she felt someone come up close behind her. An arm wrapped around her waist and held her roughly. “Hi, Jenny.” Trevor Langley whispered harshly in her ear, as she let out a small yelp. “No, no, don’t scream.” She heard a click of a gun and felt him press the barrel against her side. “Don’t make me shoot you.”

Jenny’s mind raced; blood was pumping through her body at a furious rate. _What do I do? What do I do?_ Quickly, she crumpled up the flier in her hand and let it drop to the ground. “Trevor, what are you doing here?” She asked him, as she secretly kicked the balled-up piece of paper to the landscaping rocks just an inch or two away. “How did you find me?”

“You’re not the only one who knows how to ping cell phones, my dear.” He sneered into her hair and pressed the gun further in her side. Jenny tried not to cry out in pain, feeling a bruise form from the pressure of the barrel. “You’ve caused me a lot of headaches, you know.”

“I wouldn’t recommend shooting me in front of a federal pen.” Jenny snapped, finding some sense of courage. “You’d never make it off the property.” Her eyes quickly and discreetly down to the crumpled-up flier. It seemed to blend in with the rocks. Hopefully, Trevor didn’t notice it. But maybe someone would find it.

“Hm, you may have a point.” Trevor removed something from his pocket. “I guess I’ll do this instead.” He jammed a syringe into her neck, causing her to instantly black out. Her body slumped against him, and her phone dropped on the ground. Trevor was able to hold up the unconscious woman, and bend down enough to gather her phone. He couldn’t leave any trace of her behind. As he dragged her towards his car, making sure no one was following them, he missed the one clue Jenny had left behind. A flier of red birds with the words “Change Your Life” printed on it, crumpled into a ball, and wedged between rocks.


	17. Chains

Paige took a damp cloth and wiped the blood off Johnny’s brow. He had gone under with the Soto Street gang, as directed by Paul, but he had met a bunch of punch-drunk gang members in a locker room. He was explaining what happened to Mike and Paul, as they watched from the side, as Paige helped bandage him up in the bathroom. “It’s like boot camp,” Johnny told them, wincing at Paige’s hand brushing a fresh bruise. “You gotta show you can take it.”

“I don’t like this shit, Johnny.” Paul shook his head in concern. “I’m calling it off.”

“For what?” He questioned, as Paige went fishing around the sink for bandages. “Lady Arrabuena already invited me to her house tomorrow. That’s big. Plus, they’re making carnitas, so I’m all-in.”

Briggs kept shaking his head. “I don’t care. I wanted you to help out, not get knocked out.”

“Wait, so you send me under with Soto Street to make sure that Ari doesn’t get hit and now, you don’t care?” It was true. Paul had “involved” himself with one of the Soto guys’ girls and got Ari caught in the middle of it. Because of it, Ari and the Sotos were at war. Which is why Paul sent him under with Soto in the first place, to try and have a guy on both sides of the fight. “That’s bullshit, man. I’ve already done all this?”

“What I’m saying is that I would rather get Ari killed than you.” Paul insisted. Mike watched the exchange between the two men with utter fascination.

Paige finally spoke up. “But he already took the beatdown.”

“Yeah, you’re right, Paige. You already took the beating, Johnny. It’s your call.” He gestured to him, letting him know that he was the one to call the shots now.

After a slight pause, Johnny set his jaw. “I’m in. I’m seeing this through.” Mike bit down on his tongue and silently shook his head. _Briggs is unbelievable._

“Okay,” Briggs conceded. “Just let me know if you hear anything.” He slipped out of the bathroom, leaving the three of them alone.

“You know,” Mike finally said, staring at the door Briggs just disappeared through. “Once you know what he’s doing, it’s kind of incredible to watch him work.”

“What?” Johnny and Paige shot him a look of confusion.

“Briggs just let _you_ convince _him_ to stay under with Soto Street.” Mike explained. “Which is exactly where he wants you.” Johnny shook his head, almost not believing that Mike was still on this. “It’s like one of those shows where you learn how the magicians do their trick. Once you see the wires, the magic’s gone.”

“You know, this shit is getting really old, Mike.” Johnny groaned at him.

Mike, who had his notebook by his side, opened it up to the page where he had once drawn the red birds in the arch. “Red birds.”

“Jesus Christ,” Paige rolled her eyes. “Again with the bullshit birds?”

“It’s not bullshit.” Mike insisted. “I saw this and drew in this notebook, Paul knew about it, and look at this.” He withdrew the rehab flier from where it was tucked inside the notebook and held it up for them to see.

“Man, Jenny made that for you.” Johnny gestured toward. Mike cocked his head at him, wondering how he knew. “Look, you and Jenny start yelling in the living room while I’m upstairs. Sound travels, alright?”

He shook his head, still not trying to think about his fight with Jenny. “Look, it doesn’t matter who made it. Paul planted the idea in Jenny’s head, and they used it to try and push me to detox.”

“Okay, so Jenny and Paul helped you get clean?” Paige questioned. “That’s the big conspiracy?”

Mike took a breath. “All the things that lead me to the sarin: VinXXX, the red phoenix, the number 47. I was looking for patterns. And at the time, it blew me away. It was all there, but of course it was all there. I drew a road map to my mind and I left it out for Briggs to find it.”

“You think Briggs is the one moving the sarin gas?” Paige asked him, not believing the words she was hearing.

“That’s exactly what I think.” He confirmed. “This whole time, I’ve been looking for magic. And now, I’m going to start looking for the wires.”

“Okay, not to poke holes in your theory, though,” Johnny spoke up. “But if you think Briggs was using you, then that’s gotta mean that Jenny’s in on it, too, and I just don’t see that.”

“No, I don’t think she’s in on it.” He shook his head. “What motive would she have?”

“What motive does Briggs have?” Paige countered. “Look, I’m sorry, Mike, but this all seems like wild conspiracy theories. What would Briggs need sarin for?”

“I don’t know that part. Yet.” Mike started to back up towards the door, feeling motivated. “But I’m going to find out. And then, you’ll all see that I’m right.”

Once he left, Johnny and Paige shrugged at each other. “So, you were eavesdropping on Mike and Jenny?” Paige raised an accusing eyebrow at him.

“You should have heard them.” He defended. “They were practically breaking every window in the house with all their screaming and shouting. And… I was bored.”

She tapped him on the head gently, being careful not to harm him further. Gently withdrawing a bandage from its wrapper, she placed it over the cut on his forehead. “Where is Jenny, anyway? I haven’t seen her all day and she’s usually the one does this sort of thing.”

“She stormed out after their fight.” He told her.

“Those two.” She sighed at the couple’s propensity for drama. “Have you heard from her at least?”

He gave her a look. “Look, I just got a beatdown by some Mexican gangbangers. I would sooner go through that again, then try and get the middle of whatever the hell her and Mike got going on.”

She smirked at that. “I get that. But maybe I can send her a text or something. Just to make sure she’s okay.”

Johnny shrugged, but then a wicked grin formed over his face. “Hey, I’ll bet you twenty bucks that they kiss and make up within 48 hours.”

“Johnny, don’t be a dick.” She pushed him and started to exit the bathroom, to go find where she had put her phone. But before getting through the door, she paused and gave one last glance. “You’re on.”

>>>

Never had her head been in so much pain before. It felt like that one scene in _Alien_ when the alien burst from the guy’s chest, but instead, the alien was bursting from her brain. Jenny struggled to open her eyes. On top of her head throbbing, she also felt the groggiest she ever felt. _What did I drink last night?_ But then she tried to stretch her arms and was soon reminded of what happened.

Looking above her head, she saw her wrists were locked in chains, which were bolted to the wall where she leaned against. Even though she knew better, she pulled her arms trying to see if she could free her wrists, but she couldn’t. _This can’t be happening._ Her eyes scanned the room wildly. It was an empty room, more than likely a basement of some sort. The walls were concrete and bare, only a couple of think windows sat at the top of the wall, a small amount of light peeking through them. The ceiling was covered in air ducts and pipes. The only thing in the room she could see was a singular folding chair that sat in the middle of the room. Some more scanning around and she was able to see the door, which was closed.

Jenny slowly started to remember being at the prison with Bello and being surprised by Langley. “Hey!” She yelled, not realizing that her throat was dry. She didn’t know how long she had been out, but she was in desperate need for water. “Langely, let me out of here!” Again, she fought against the chains, but they did not give. She pushed her feet underneath her and she tried to stand up, but dizziness forced her back down to the ground. _What the hell did he drug me with?_ “Langely, get me the hell out of here now!”

The door creaked open, light blaring in and blinded Jenny. She yelped in pain and squinted her eyes shut. The brightness was not helping her still throbbing head. Eventually, the door closed again and she heard footsteps, but her eyes had to blink a few times for her sight to return back to normal. “You sleep good?” Trevor Langley’s cool voice sent a cold chill down her spine.

“Like a damn baby.” She quipped; her eyes not yet adjusted back to normal. “Where am I? What the hell is going on?”

“You’re a self-proclaimed genius; I think you could figure it out.” He told her, sinking into the folding chair.

Finally, she was able to see him, staring back at her. Jenny used to pride herself on being a good judge of character. True, she knew that he was a hitman from the beginning, but she never expected this level of… well, psychotic. His handsome features now were the thing that would send ice through her veins. “Why are you doing this?”

“I don’t like games, Jenny.” He said plainly. “Even as a kid, I never understood games, like tag or hide-and-seek. They weren’t that fun or interesting, and yet, every kid on the playground wanted to play it. It’s probably why I didn’t have a lot of friends growing up.”

“No, you killed your one friend.”

He smiled, as if remembering it fondly. “And you, dear Jenny, have been playing a game with me.”

“Yeah, well, typically, hide-and-seek doesn’t end with kidnapping.” She spat at him. “I’m a goddamn federal agent, remember? People will be looking for me and when they do find me…”

“Oh, you mean…” He withdrew her phone from his pocket and waved it victoriously. “Like Paige? Or Charlie?” Jenny set her jaw, wanting to break out of the chains she was in and clamor him to the ground. “Now, is Charlie the blonde guy or the dude with dreads? Honestly, so many people live in that house, it’s hard to keep track.”

“Leave them alone.” She warned him in a low voice.

“Well, anyway,” He scrolled through her messages casually like he was reading a news article aloud to her. “Charlie’s been messaging you a lot. Paige just sent you a message not too long ago. Said she heard about you and Mike? You got a boyfriend I don’t know about?”

“Trevor, I swear to God.”

“Well, don’t worry. I told both Charlie and Paige that you just needed some space. They both said okay and to let them know if you need anything. Do you need anything?”

This time, she actually spat at him. “Go to hell!”

“Not until you give me what I want.” Trevor maintained his cool persona.

“And what do you want?” She glanced around the room. “Is this your little sex dungeon?”

He grimaced. “Ugh, no. Nothing like that. No, I want information. You sent me on a wild goose chase with this Odin Rossi guy. And the trouble is… no one seems to agree on what the guy looks like. So, I asked an old client of mine in the Bureau why that was, and he told me that it was because no one had ever laid eyes on this guy. No arrests, no busts, nothing.”

“I don’t know anything either.”

“Hm, I wish that were true.” He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “But I did some digging and found out that the people in that house of yours… what do you call it? Graceland? They, including you, were investigating Odin about a year ago.”

Jenny didn’t know where he was getting his information. Her team had found out recently that he had been looking into FBI agents, but they didn’t know how he had gotten access to those files. Clearly, he had help. But the team couldn’t seem to find any sign of a partner. Unless her team didn’t tell her. “Well, if you did your research right,” She countered. “Then you would know what we didn’t make any arrests either. We never got eyes on Odin, despite many attempts.”

“Oh, but you created a profile for this Odin.” What Jenny hadn’t seen when he had come in was that had placed a file on the floor under his chair. Now, he reached down and opened the file on his lap, reading over it like the Sunday paper. “Between the ages of 30-40, athletic, highly intelligent, possible previous drug affiliations, and…. I’m going to quote you here. ‘Intimate knowledge of the law and law enforcement’. Clever. Developed by you and… Agent Mike Warren.” A realization came over his face. “Oh, I see now. You and Mike… a little office romance?”

“Is there a point you are trying to make?” She demanded.

He closed the file. “Well, from what I infer, there is a not so subtle implication that Odin Rossi is a cop. Or possibly a fed. And judging from all the reports I read about all those ops you guys did last year, well… I would be forced to make the same conclusion.”

“Can we skip to the part where you explain why you kidnapped me and chained me to a freakin’ wall?” She yanked the chains for emphasis, quickly losing patience with him.

“That’s as far as I got in my investigation.” Trevor shrugged. “So, I was thinking, why would you send me on this goose chase? And then I thought, maybe that was the point. Maybe I was never supposed to find Odin Rossi. Or… maybe I’ve been talking with Odin Rossi all along.”

Jenny forced out a chuckle. “You are crazy. I’m not Odin Rossi. And if you thought I was, I would already be dead.”

“No, I didn’t think you were either.” He agreed. “No offense, but you don’t really seem like a criminal mastermind. But… I’m thinking… if Odin Rossi is a suspected cop and/or fed… then you probably know him. Personally.”

Again, she let out another chuckle, hoping that some of it would calm her nerves. “What, do you think we’re pen pals?”

Trevor slowly stood up, holding the file folder at his side. “Well, I searched your phone, and I couldn’t find anyone named Odin or Rossi. So it’s obviously a fake name. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that you don’t know him. Again, I am not an unreasonable man. So, I have another offer.” He leaned over her, his cool demeanor now completely menacing. “You will either tell me who Odin Rossi really is or I will kill you instead. You have 48 hours to jog your memory. I’ll be back with food and water in a couple hours.”

He moved to the door, as Jenny strained against her chains again. “I don’t know who he is. Trevor! I don’t know anything! Let me go!” The light beamed through the door again as he opened it, Jenny squinted against the bright light yet again, tears rolling down her face. When the door shut again, she was alone in an empty room. The only sound was soft sobbing.

>>>

“So why are we doing this?” Paige asked Mike, as he drove them up to Santa Barbara. Mike had been trying to nail down the shipping route of his sarin gas all day and seeing how Briggs could have pulled off such a feat. He had been able to conclude that he could have dropped off the package in Santa Barbara at a fueling station, before coming to meet Mike to stake out Gusti picking up the package. Paige had caught him in the middle of his mapping out the route and offered to help. She had thought against it for a moment, but then, maybe he could finally realize how crazy and paranoid he sounded. Especially since Jenny still wasn’t around to talk some sense into him.

“We’re going to go see if we can catch Briggs on security tape,” Mike reminded her, curious as to why she needed a reminder. “Do you not remember?”

“No, Mike,” She sighed and adjusted herself in the passenger seat in order to face him. “I mean why are we driving all the way up to Santa Barbara on the off chance to that we might catch footage of Briggs handling your precious sarin?”

He stole a glance over at her in confusion. “Because if we don’t find anything on those tapes, then I will drop the whole thing. Paige, what are you asking?”

“I’m asking why _we_ are doing this, instead of…. Calling Jenny and have her access the security footage?”

Finally understanding, Mike tried to keep his fix on the highway ahead of him. “Jenny isn’t the only person in the world who can access security footage.”

“No, but she can do it a whole hell of a lot quicker, and we both know it.” She pressed. “What is it with you two anyway? A couple days ago, you were practically swallowing each other whole. Now, you refuse to even call her?”

Mike rolled his eyes, not wanting to discuss the particulars with Paige. “Can we just focus on the issue at hand?” He tried to say.

“The issue at hand involves Jenny. She’s never been gone this long, and she has never been this aloof before. I’m worried about her, Mike.”

“Look, she said she wanted space, right?” He shrugged, having overheard Charlie and Paige talk about their concern for her. “So, if that’s what she wants, then I say we give it to her.”

It was Paige’s turn to roll her eyes as she slumped against the seat. “Do you know how annoying the two of you are?”

“Thanks, Paige.”

“I’m serious. You two take ‘hot and cold’ to the next level. Obviously, you love each other, so why can’t you…”

“Paige,” He interrupted her, feeling tired of the prying. “This does not concern you, nor does it have anything to do with this situation.”

“Yeah, we’re just driving to Santa Barbara for the road trip.” She said sarcastically. She saw him set his jaw, silently indicating that he was done talking. “Look, you’re right. It is none of my business. But you aren’t the only one who cares about her. I mean, if I even knew where she was at, then I would stay out of it, but she doesn’t answer my calls or texts. I’ve just gotten one text from her. One. You and I both know that Jenny is not a woman of few words. So, I don’t know what is going on between you two, but you need to find a way to fix it.”

They rode in silence for a while, Mike thinking on all that Paige had just told him. Of course, he was worried about Jenny. She’d never just walked out of the house for this long. She hadn’t been seen at the house for at least a day now, and Charlie and Paige had practically been chewing his ear off, in order to get him to reach out to her to get her to come back. Maybe that Warner guy wasn’t her secret lover, like he had suspected of her. Maybe Mike had been too crazed about Paul and let that influence their relationship.

“Do you think it could ever work?” Mike finally asked aloud. “Two agents getting involved? I mean, Charlie and Paul had brief fling, and look how that turned out.”

“Are you asking me for relationship advice?” She raised her eyebrows at him.

He shook his head. “Never mind,”

“You don’t want advice from me, Mike. Believe me.” She snickered.

“Forget it. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

Paige looked over at him for a moment and then down to her lap. “From pure observation, though… I say it boils down to priorities. Charlie and Paul didn’t make it because they put their case load in front of their relationship. You and Jenny… you’re both passionate about your work. And that’s great. But at what point do start sacrificing your case work with your feelings for another human being? So… I think you both need to figure that out.”

The car then remained silent the rest of the way.


	18. Thickened

WHAM! Jenny felt the blow of Trevor’s fist collide with her stomach. She tried to scream but felt the air escape from her lungs. As she bent over, trying to gasp for air, he grabbed a fistful of hair and yanked it up so she could look at him. “Remember anything yet?”

“Go…. To hell.” She grunted through gritted teeth. Again, he landed another blow to her stomach. He had been growing impatient with her not giving up Odin Rossi’s identity. Trying to get creative with how to best motivate her, he had chosen to resort to fisticuffs. However, it wasn’t that fair of a fight, since she was still chained to the wall. Having been in a few fight clubs in his day, he was pretty good at throwing punches. Each time his fist connected her stomach or jaw, she could feel every bone in her body rattle. But she tried to remain strong… and awake.

He reached down and clamped a hand around her throat, shoving her against the wall. Jenny gasped for breath as she felt his hand squeeze ever so slightly. “I’m getting really sick and tired of these games, Jenny.” He sneered at her. “Who is Odin Rossi?”

“Go ahead and kill me.” Jenny spat at him, her voice weak and broken. “Then, you’ll never know.”

Trevor’s eye seemed to twitch before he let go of her throat just to strike her across the face. Jenny spat out a glob of blood onto the concrete next to her. “You will tell me.” He loomed over. “I can be very convincing.”

“Yeah, you’re a real charmer,” Jenny quipped weakly. She hoped that if she at least sounded tough, then maybe she wouldn’t feel so scared or helpless.

“I can see you have no regards for your own safety.” Trevor commented, withdrawing a cloth from his back pocket and wiping the blood off his fists. “But maybe I need amend my original offer.”

Despite all the pain she felt, she raised her head to meet his evil gaze. “The hell does that mean?”

He smiled smugly. “It means that you either tell me who Odin Rossi is or… I’ll kill one of your roommates.”

She struggled against the chains, forgetting for a moment that she was still stuck against the wall. “No!”

“Oh, so I struck a chord.” He giggled at the alarm on her face.

“I told you I don’t know who Odin is.” She stammered. “I don’t know who he is!”

He leaned down to rest his hands on his knees, bringing his head to her level. “We’ll just see about that.” Trevor Langley slowly exited the room as Jenny screamed after him.

“Don’t you dare harm them! You hear me?! I will kill you!” The sound of the door shutting echoed in the empty room.

>>>

“Okay, I know exactly what we are looking for and I know what it was.” Mike explained to the security guard, who sat in front of computer monitors. Paige stood behind him with her arms crossed, unsure of what these results were going to be and how Mike was going to take it. “I just need you to pull the footage.”

“Aye, aye, Captain.” The guard muttered sarcastically. Mike had stormed in waving his badge around and practically shoving him in front of the computers. Needless to say, it wasn’t that great of a first impression. “The lot and pier feed from 5:00 to 7:00 pm.” The man let his fingers fly over the keys to bring up the footage.

Mike leaned in close to look at the monitor, and instantly recognizing a particular car. “There,” He said, pointing to the screen. “Edge of the frame.”

This time, Paige leaned in to see what he was gesturing to. She could see some sort of Jeep parked behind a large shipping container. “What am I looking at?”

“That’s his car.” Mike told her. The bumper was poking out just a bit from behind the shipping container. Maybe they could get the plate numbers. He then asked the guard, “Can you enhance this?”

“Enhance?” The guard asked incredulously. “This ain’t NASA. What you see is what you get.” Mike closed his eyes and shook his head. If Jenny were there, she would have shoved the guard out of the way, told them all they were idiots, and been able to find the plates on the car within seconds. Maybe Paige had been right before. He should have called Jenny.

“Mike, you might want to take a look at this.” Paige’s voice called his attention to the other computer screen that she was watching. It was a different angle of the shipping yard. As he moved to get closer to see the footage, he could see a man carrying a large wooden crate. The man was wearing a black baseball cap and talking on the phone, his head cocked to the side as if he had the phone wedged between his shoulder and ear. The man turned his head towards the camera to look over his shoulder and Mike nearly fainted. It was Briggs. They saw him loading the container, the same wooden crate Mike had found in the trunk of Gusti’s car, onto a small boat, still talking on the phone.

“Son of a bitch.” Mike stood up straight and ran a hand through his hair. He had been right all along. Briggs had been playing him. If only Jenny was there to witness this for herself…

“Yeah,” Paige took a moment to realize what the footage meant. She was ready to kill Paul. “There’s our magician. I just don’t understand what Briggs would be doing with sarin gas.”

Mike’s phone buzzed in his pocket. Digging it out, he saw that Johnny was calling him. _This better be good._ “What, Johnny?” He snapped, as Paige tried to work with the guard to isolate the images of Paul at the dock.

“Shit’s going down,” came Johnny’s urgent reply.

“What are you talking about?”

“This guy, Javi, his head just showed up in a box.” Johnny explained hurriedly. “Man, Theresa is losing her shit, talking about how she wants to wipe out the Sarkissians.”

Mike took a moment to digest the information. Theresa was the head of Soto Street. If her son’s head was delivered to her by the Sarkissians, she was not about to take that lying down. “Oh, my God.” The way he said it made Paige stop taking a photo of Paul at the docks with her phone and look back at him.

Johnny continued, the worry and concern in his voice could practically be felt. “Look, she’s sending us over to the funeral. What do you want me to do?” Tevan Sarkissian had just passed away from kidney failure. The whole Sarkissian family would be there. If Soto Street hit up that funeral, it would wipe everyone out. Mike suddenly realized that would help eliminate Pauls’ problem with the Sarkissians.

“Johnny, do they have the sarin?” Mike asked him.

“What?”

“Briggs set this up. Everything.” He explained. “Do you see a canister?”

“I don’t know.” Johnny glanced over the front yard of Theresa’s house, where all the Soto Street gang members were starting to pile into vans. “I see a couple of vans, a bunch of Mexicans, but…” Just then, a couple of men in front of him exited the house, carrying a locked box. “Oh, shit.”

“What, Johnny?”

“They got something, man.”

“Is it the gas?” Mike asked, as Paige gestured for Mike to clue her in on what was happening.

“I don’t know.” A couple of the gang members gestured for Johnny to hop into one of the wans. “Oh, shit, they’re waiting on me.” Johnny told him. “I gotta go.” He quickly hung up the phone and hopped into the van, eyeing the mysterious box that sat next to his feet.

“Johnny? Shit.” Mike dropped his phone down.

“What’s happening?” Paige asked.

“We gotta get to Los Angeles.”

>>>

Jenny was always a fighter. Even before she knew how to throw a punch, she would tackle kids to the ground when she was younger. She had been in trouble a lot as a kid for picking fights. Her parents had recommended her to therapists, who tried to tell her she had anger issues. But all the fights she had started was for a good cause. She would step in if some bullies were picking on smaller or weaker kids. If anyone started hurling insults at her or trying to tell her that she wasn’t good, smart, or strong enough to do something. That’s when she would fight.

Paul had been the one to teach her how to properly fight. He even came to her aide a few times. Without having to ask, he would step up and fight alongside her. “Here’s the thing, Jenn.” He had told her once. “Fighting isn’t about being the strongest. It’s about being the smartest. How you can best your opponent and target their weaknesses.”

“But what if I’m not smart enough?” She had asked him. 

That had earned a chuckle. “But you are, Jenny.” He ruffled her hair, despite her protests. “All the answers are right there in front of you. You just have to be smart enough to see it.”

She wished Paul was there in that basement with her. Maybe then she wouldn’t feel so defeated. Trevor Langley had beaten her. He was the smarter one in this scenario. He found her weaknesses and was now exploiting them. Her weaknesses coincidentally were all named Charlie, Paige, Dale, Paul, Johnny, and Mike. She couldn’t give up her brother as Odin, but she also couldn’t give up any of her roommates. Even Mike. Despite their huge fight, she wasn’t about to send him to meet his maker. He didn’t deserve that. None of them did.

“All the answers are right there in front of you.” Paul’s voice echoed in her head. Jenny rested her head against the concrete wall. Mike would probably tell her the same thing. She closed her eyes to think. What would Paul or Mike do if they were there?

"No, stop that." She could hear Mike tell her. "Stop thinking like me or Paul. That's what got you here in the first place. What would _Jenny_ do if this were anyone else? You're supposed to be a genius, remember?" Squeezing her eyes shut trying to picture his face, his damn puppy eyes, his million dollar smile, a small tear escaped from the corner and soaked into her open wounds on her face. _How am I going to get out of here?_

>>>

“There’s something we don’t know.” Paige insisted, as Mike broke nearly every traffic law speeding down the highway towards Los Angeles. He had been calling every government agency to intervene at the funeral home where the Tevan funeral was taking place, yelling at any person who dared asked him a question.

Paige just couldn’t believe that Paul would cause a mass extinction like what Mike was suggesting. Sure, he wanted to bring down the Sarkissians, but to release sarin gas on everyone… it didn’t seem right. She tried calling Paul’s cell several times, but no answer. She then tried to call Jenny’s cell. If something was happening with her brother, no matter what the situation was, Jenny would want to know about it. But she also got her voicemail. “Hey, Jenny, it’s Paige.” She said, earning a glare from Mike as he continued to weave in and out of traffic at breakneck speeds. “Listen, I know you want your space, but Mike and I just found something that might involve Paul. Johnny is en route to slaughter the Sarkissians, and Mike seems to think that the sarin is on its way there too. We need you, babe. Call me back.”

“Was that really necessary?” Mike asked, as she hung up the phone.

“You think that she wouldn’t want to know?” Paige snapped at him. “Besides, if anyone can mobilize any law enforcement agency in a matter of minutes, it’s Jenny.”

“Do you think she knows about Paul and the gas?” He questioned, as he jerked his wheel to avoid a collision.

“I think if she did, then she would have already killed Briggs herself.”

>>>

Charlie was packing up and get ready to catch her flight. Dale was still over in Florida dealing with his money laundering case, and everyone was out working cases. Well, except Jenny. She hadn’t been seen or heard from in a day. It wasn’t like her to disappear. Charlie poked her head in Jenny’s bedroom, almost hoping to find her laying in bed and yelling at her to get to let her sleep. But she wasn’t. The room was still empty.

She wandered around the slightly messy room, wishing to find some sort of clue of where she went. Jenny was not super tidy or messy. “It’s organized chaos.” She had once told her. There were piles of clothes, papers, and books around the room, but there was a system that made sense to only Jenny. One thing that got her attention was the laptop sitting on Jenny’s desk. That was odd, considering that Jenny would never have gone too far without it. Her whole life was computers. If she was truly in need of space, then Charlie would think that she would have at least brought her computer with her.

Producing her phone from her pocket, she decided to try and reach Jenny again. But of course, it was sent to voicemail. “Hey, kiddo,” Charlie said, as she tried to see if Jenny wrote down the password to get into her computer anywhere. “It’s Mama, the one you never call. Baby cakes, I’m worried about you. I’m in your room now and I see that you left your computer behind. Tell the truth, are you in trouble? I’m not mad if you are, I just want to know. I’m about ready to file a missing person’s report on you, Jenn. You better call me back before I track your ass down myself.”

>>>

Paige was freaking out. Soto Street shot up the funeral home where the Sarkissians were, but no gas had been found. Mike stayed behind at the funeral home to help tear the place apart. Meanwhile, Johnny and Paige were tasked with following Paul. They had followed him all the way back to Graceland. And in an effort to confront him, Johnny shot Briggs in the leg.

‘This was never about me.” He had told them, as he bled on his own bedroom floor. “It’s about Colby.” Paige ran over to try and put pressure on the bullet wound. But Johnny saw that he had dropped a phone onto the floor. He picked it up and examined the red phone.

“This is exactly like the one we pulled from Gusti when we arrested him,” Johnny commented, thinking about when Mike had asked him to throw him, Gusti, and Madison into a cell for questioning.

“Yeah, and I gotta get that to Ari, pronto.” Paul barked, as Paige pressed down on his leg.

“You’re not going anywhere with this leg.” She said, her mind racing. Jenny was going to kill them all.

So now, here she was. Breaking into Ari’s shop, planting the red phone at Ari’s desk. This was never in the job description. When she had joined the DEA, she had never thought that she would have ended up, planting evidence in someone else’s place, and shooting one of her own in their own home. True, Johnny had been the one to pull the trigger, but still.

As she laid the red phone down at Ari’s desk, her flashlight caught a glimpse of something shiny. Paige looked to see a familiar looking razor. The razor she had used to kill Toros. Her hand brushed over, but she did not pick it up. Almost afraid that if she did, it would find its way to another throat.

The sound of the door chime stopped her from dwelling on her past mistakes too much. A quick glance over shoulder made her see that Martun Sarkissian and one of his cronies were entering the shop. Paige quickly shut off her flashlight and scanned the dark room to a place to hide. There was no way she could get out of there without gaining unwanted attention. Her eyes fell on the bathroom. Ducking low and out of sight, she slipped into the bathroom, and closed the door behind her just in time. Once safely inside, she pressed her back up against a wall and withdrew her gun, trying to steady her beating heart.

“I gotta take a leak.” She heard Martun say. Paige swallowed hard and pointed the gun towards the door, ready to shoot her way out of the bathroom. _Am I really about to kill another Sarkissian?_ She thought. But she pushed the thought down and held her finger over the trigger. The doorknob turned slightly.

“The phone’s here already.” Martun’s guy said.

“So it is.” Martun let go of the doorknob and walked away from the door. In a couple of seconds, the two men left the shop, Paige heard the door chimes once again to confirm it. Her whole body relaxed as she lowered her gun. _I need to get a new job._

>>>

“I need to go to the hospital,” Paul whined, as he bled through another bandage. They had set up him on his bed, while Johnny sat and watched over him.

“You will.” He replied coldly. All the usual happy-go-lucky Johnny was not present. Instead, it was a stoic, seemingly unfeeling Johnny. “Once I get the okay.”

Briggs let his head fall against his headboard. “Hey, man, I never thanked you. If you hadn’t been there today, those gangbangers would have shot me.” When Johnny had been under with Soto as they hit the funeral, he had found a way to get ahead and save Paul from meeting the wrong end of a Mexican’s gun.

“I don’t give a shit about your apology, bro.” Johnny snapped at him. “I could have died because of you today. All I want to hear out of your mouth is an explanation.”

“The explanation is you did what you were supposed to do. You did what you were there to do. You stopped Soto Street from killing a bunch of innocent people, Johnny.”

“You’re the reason they were in danger.” He argued. “Can you not see that? This is all because of you. You’re just lucky that Jenny ain’t around, because she’d be reaming your ass, too.”

“Yeah, where is she, anyway?” Paul glanced out his open door to the hall. “I’m surprised she didn’t get a whiff of me bleeding and come running.”

“No one’s seen her.” Johnny replied.

“No one’s seen her?” He tried to sit up, but grunted in pain, temporarily forgetting that his leg had been shot. “Well, why are you here with me? Why aren’t you out looking for her?”

“She texted Paige earlier. She’s fine. You, on the other hand, I’m not so sure about.”

Mike came storming into the room. He had spent most of the day ripping apart a funeral home in search of the sarin gas. The search had come up empty. It was time to stop playing games. He pulled up a chair and sat down next to the bed. “Santa Barbara.” He stated knowingly, watching Paul’s reactions closely. “June 25th. There’s a commercial fueling station up there. The head of security, his name’s Jimmy, he’s an idiot. But the camera’s work.” Briggs readjusted himself to sit up carefully, sweat pouring from his brow. But Mike kept going. “You arranged for Gusti to pick it up at the port in LA. You used my near-death experience against me to point me to him and get me under. You jerked me around for weeks. You even convinced Jenny to make me a rehab flier to push me to detox, because I was about to lose Gusti.”

“Warren,” Paul tried to say, but Mike was too much on a roll to stop.

“I see how. Clearly, now, I see how. But what I don’t understand is why? Why go through all that trouble to involve me at all?”

Briggs sighed in defeat. Honesty was his only tool now. “Because you were the lynch pin. No matter what I did, no matter how I played it, if I ride Ari all the way to Martun, then guess what? Logan makes me his sin-eater. And I putter out the rest of my days locked up next to a bunch of pieces of human trash. But you, you can arrest Martun.”

“Me?” Mike gave him a confused look. “How can I arrest Martun?”

Paul shrugged. “You were supposed to stick to Gusti and wait for the buyer to call.”

“He still has the sarin?” Mike thought for a moment, but then his phone buzzed. It was Gusti. Speak of the devil.

“You might want to take that.” Briggs told him. Mike ran back out of the room, answering Gusti’s call.

“Man, why not just tell Mike next time?” Johnny asked Briggs, having heard the whole conversation. “Instead of playing him like a puppet.”

“The guy was hooked on oxy, Johnny. Jenny was worried about him. So… I thought this would have been the thing to get him clean and back on his feet.”

“Still seems wrong, dude.” He shook his head.

Paul wasn’t done asking about his sister though. “Why did Jenny leave?”

Johnny hung his head. “Her and Mike got into this big fight yesterday.”

“About what?”

“I don’t know. Mostly about you. And some guy named Warner.”

Briggs sat up a little straighter at the sound of that name. “Did you say Warner?”

Johnny noticed the way he reacted to that name. “Yeah, Mike thinks she was cheating on him with the guy. Who’s Warner?”

Before either of them got a chance to say anything else, they got an email notification on their phone. It was from Jenny.

>>>

“Will you answer me something?” Jenny asked Trevor, as he came in with water for her. “How did you know so much about me and the house? I had a team of specialists tracking your movements, and they didn’t tell me shit about you coming anywhere near that house.”

Trevor smirked. “You’re not the only one with a team.” Jenny gulped at the water bottle desperately, which only made him smile more. “I never thought I would see you so weak.”

She shot him a look. “I’m just getting started.”

“Well, you’re not easily broken. I will give you that.” Trevor withdrew the water bottle from her and poured the remaining amount onto the concrete floor. “Hope you were savoring that water. That’s the last I’m going to give you.” Before she could stop herself, she groaned in frustration. Trevor smiled widely and tossed the bottle towards her. “I’ll be back later. The next time I am in here, though, I will be expecting a name. if not, I’ll be sicking one of my dogs on your beloved housemates.”

He left her alone again. Jenny knew what she had to do. Inspiration had hit her like a ton of bricks. It was time to put an end to all of the madness in the only way she knew how. She just hoped that everyone would forgive her.


	19. Reveal

Mike was exhausted. There was no sarin gas after all. He had followed Martun Sarkissian to Soto Street, just as he was about to let the gas loose on the whole street. But as everyone was pouring out of their homes and pointing guns at Martun, Mike had spotted the rat Gusti had used to test the sarin gas on was alive and spinning in her wheel. There was no gas. That was when Mike took the shot to Martun. It was all finally over. Police and agents were still swarming the street, processing the scene.

“Heard you made one hell of a shot.” Paige walked up to him as he sat on top of car, trying to collect himself.

“Top of my class in Quantico.” He replied smugly. “And I do all those hand exercises.”

Paige regarded him carefully _. He doesn’t know_. “How did you know it was empty?”

“My friend here,” He gestured to the rat in the cage sitting next to him. “Still alive.”

“So it was all a fraud.” _Do I tell him?_ “Martun’s going to walk free.”

“No, he’s not.” Mike replied. “Law doesn’t care about outcome; it just cares about intent. As long as he tried to release sarin on US soil, it doesn’t matter if it was empty. It’s still an act of terrorism.”

Paige couldn’t stand it anymore. He was way too calm and collected. “You haven’t checked your phone in a while, have you?”

He gave her a confused look. “I’ve been a little busy, Paige. Why?”

She clamped down on her bottom lip, not wanting to be the one to break the news to him. “You, uh…. Got an email I think you should look at.”

That only added to his confusion. “Paige, I don’t know if you have noticed, but I just took down an entire Armenian mafia. I don’t think…”

Paige reached out and placed her hands on his shoulders. “Mike, it’s… it’s Jenny.”

The seriousness in her face and tone got his attention. Quickly, he withdrew his phone from his pocket and saw that he had indeed received an email from Jenny. It was weird that it was an email instead of a text, which was her preferred method of contact. It was also weird that she was talking to him again. But how had Paige known that she had sent him an email? Without much more delay, he opened it and saw that she had sent the entire house a video. He glanced at Paige, who gave him an encouraging nod. Mike hit the play button.

Jenny was sitting at her desk in her bedroom. Just behind her, he could see her stacks of miscellaneous case files and notebooks from previous investigations. “Hi, guys.” Jenny said on the video, waving her hand. She wasn’t her normal, bubbly self. There was a graveness to her demeanor. “It’s Jenny, obviously. You might be wondering why I am sending you an email versus just sending you a text or pounding down your door. And… this is kinda dumb and cliché, and super dramatic, but… if you are receiving this, it means that… something’s happened to me within the last 24 hours. And there is a very good possibility that the man responsible for it…. Is named Trevor Langley.” Mike felt Paige rest a hand on his arm as a form of comfort. He felt a new anger boiling from deep within, as well as his confusion.

“Okay, look.” Video Jenny continued. “I know that you’re probably asking yourself why. Well, the beginning of this story takes place… way back when Sid Markham still loomed over us. Mike was still in the hospital and struggling to keep conscious. Meanwhile, we kept trying to nail Sid’s ass to the wall and we were getting nowhere and… I was tired of waiting around. So, because I didn’t want any of us to get our hands dirty, I sought out some… outside help.” Jenny hesitated before continuing. “I hired a hitman to kill Sid. And I’m sorry. I am beyond sorry, but like I said, I was desperate to get justice for Mike and… I’m sorry for keeping it a secret. I wanted to protect you guys and keep you as innocent as I could, in case it blew up on me. But when Johnny killed Sid instead… Oh, shit. Johnny, I hope everyone knows that by now. I really hope that I didn’t just spring another bombshell on the house.”

“I don’t want to hear any more of this.” Mike hit pause and started to put away his phone.

“No, Mike, please.” Paige begged him, grabbing the phone from his hand. “Jenny’s in trouble.”

“Yeah, because she involved herself with a hitman.” He argued. “Both her and her brother are nothing but liars, using what they think is just cause.”

“Mike, look me in the eye and tell me you don’t care about her.” She challenged. Mike tried to push the words out of his mouth. But he couldn’t. Paige produced the phone towards him and hit play for him. “Anyway,” Jenny went on. “When Sid was shot, the hitman, named Trevor Langley, told me that I was to pick a new target for him, or he would go after the person who did kill Sid. And I wasn’t to put Johnny in danger. So, I gave him a name, or rather a ghost, until I could come up with a better solution at least. Odin Rossi.” Mike was ready to scream. She had unknowingly saved Johnny, but then sent the hitman after her own brother. “And so far, Trevor hasn’t found him and… is getting impatient with me. I’m afraid that if I don’t come up with something soon, he’s going to come after me. I have made this video to automatically send if I don’t enter a password every 24 hours. And… the main reason why I have made this video is not so you could try and save me or help me. This was my mess and I have to deal with it. This is just… me making sure that I leave nothing unsaid.” Her voice broke a little. “I love you all very much. We’re a dysfunctional family, don’t get me wrong, but we are a family. Dale is obviously the grumpy old man. Johnny’s the annoying little brother. Paige and Charlie, you’re my sisters. Bitches get shit done, right? Mike, I…” Jenny paused for a moment, as Mike felt his eyes well up with tears. “I could say so much right now. But I hope you know how much you mean to me. Please don’t blame yourself for this. And Paul… if anything happens to me, contact my team. Warner, Sammy, Dalton, they were all working with me on this case. If anyone will know what happened, it will be them. And if Trevor Langley is responsible for whatever happens to me, well… kick his ass for me. Love you all.” Jenny ended the video by blowing a kiss to the camera.

>>>

“Okay, Charlie and Dale are in a plane.” Paul told Johnny, as they both struggled to get Paul to settle onto the couch. After everyone had received Jenny’s message, they were gathering the troops to try and find Jenny. “Mike and Paige are on their way over right now.”

Sammy and Dalton were setting up their equipment in the living rom. Paul had contacted them to try and help figure out where Jenny was. Back when Jenny first worked with her team, Paul had only had some interactions with them. They didn’t exactly have study dates at their house, but he had a good rapport with them. Warner had not returned anyone’s phone calls, however. “So, like…” Johnny looked over at the newcomers. “You guys were Jenny’s old crew?”

“Yeah,” Sammy answered with only a half-smile. Having been informed of what happened to Jenny, she hadn’t been her normal peppy self. “We go way back.”

“Yeah, it’s funny because she never mentioned you.” Johnny said defensively.

“Johnny, stop.” Paul told him. “We’re all on the same team. What’s our first step?”

Dalton opened a laptop as he spoke. “We’re going to try and triangulate the location of her cell phone. Chances are Trevor has taken precautionary measures, but we can try.”

“And I’m working on really mapping out Trevor’s last known steps.” Sammy added. “Once I do that, we can see if any locations off Jenny’s cell overlap.”

“Great.” Paul said, as Mike and Paige flew through the front door. Mike looked like he was ready to tear apart the house brick by brick.

“What’d we miss?” Paige asked, gesturing to the two newbies.

“Sammy and Dalton,” Briggs introduced them. “They’re going to help us find Jenny.”

“What have you found?” Mike asked, his jaw clenched.

“Nothing yet,” Sammy answered. “We just got set up.”

“You’ve got nothing?” Mike questioned aggressively. “She’s been missing for 24 hours and you’ve got nothing?”

Johnny motioned for him to calm down. “Mike, chill.”

“Don’t tell me to chill, Johnny.” He snapped. “And by the way, when were you going to disclose that you killed Sid Markham?”

“Warren, that is not the issue.” Paul sat up a little, still favoring his bloodied leg. “We need to focus our efforts on finding Jenny. That’s what we all want, right?”

“He’s right.” Paige spoke up.

“Yeah, he is right.” Mike said sarcastically, letting the high emotions of the situation fuel him. “He’s always right. He can do no wrong. Paul Briggs can use us as chess pieces, but it’s always right.”

“Look, if this is about Martun, then….” But before Paul could speak further, Mike had already landed a punch across his jaw. It was really a long time coming. Paul fell back on the couch, as Paige and Johnny pushed Mike back.

“Hey, you want to help find Jenny, right?” Paige asked him, making him look her in the eye.

“Of course.”

“Then start helping.” She pushed him aggressively. “Top of your class in Quantico, right? Use that smart brain to think. That’s how we find her.”

He took a deep breath to try and center himself. “Okay, well, what do we already know?”

“She hired a hitman.” Briggs rubbed his jaw. “To save your ass.”

Mike took a step towards him, but Johnny and Paige kept holding him back. “Is this how you guys normally operate?” Sammy asked the room. They all looked over to Dalton and Sammy as if they had forgotten they were there.

“Yeah, pretty much.” Paige muttered.

“Okay, well if you guys are done throwing punches, I’d love to find Jenny.” Dalton quipped.

“Yeah,” Johnny nodded. “Let’s treat this like any other missing agent. What would we do if we had a missing agent?”

“We’d call Jenny.” Mike said under his breath, thinking about how quickly she would have already found the missing person.

“Where was she last seen?” Briggs asked.

“We last saw/heard her at the house yesterday.” Johnny gestured between him and Mike.

“Warner.” Mike stood up a little straighter, remembering she had named him as part of her team. Confirming that there was nothing happening between the two of them after all and making Mike feel like a dick in the process. “Warner was here before then.”

“Warner was here?” Sammy questioned, clearly having just learned that information.

He looked over to the two of them and suddenly realized something. “Isn’t he on your guys’ team? Why isn’t he here now?”

Dalton shrugged. “Well… let’s just say, Jenny and Warner aren’t exactly on good terms at the moment.” Sammy shot him a look, and he bowed his head in shame. “I didn’t want to tell you this, Sammy, but Warner tracked Jenny’s phone and found out about this place. He got mad that she wasn’t visiting Bello like she said she was and…”

“Wait, did you say Bello?” Mike took a step towards the redhead, who seemed to cringe back, hoping that he wouldn’t hit him. It had been a while since he last heard that name. And if Jenny was dealing with him, it couldn’t mean anything good.

“What was Jenny doing with Bello?” Paul asked, sitting up a little straighter and feeling a nervous sweat break out on his forehead.

“Trying to see if he would give us Odin Rossi.” Dalton answered, wondering why everyone was so concerned about it. “What am I missing here?”

“Did Jenny go to visit him yesterday?” Paige gestured for either of them to use the computers to find the answer. “Track her cell phone and see if it pinged near the location of the prison.” She moved to lean over Dalton’s shoulder to see what the results would be. It took Dalton a little longer than it would have taken Jenny to find the location, but Mike tried to exercise patience. He didn’t want to think about what state he would find her…

“I got yesterday’s visitor’s log.” Sammy announced excitedly. “She was there at about 6 pm yesterday.”

“That was after she stormed out of here.” Mike nodded. “Let’s go see if we can find anyone who might have seen where she went to.”

“Yeah, I’m coming… AH!” Briggs tried to stand but fell back on the couch, his leg still bleeding out.

Paige ran over to inspect his bandages. “Okay, no more delay. We have to get you to a hospital.”

“Not a chance.” He spat at her. “Not while my sister is out there. She would be telling you the same thing if the roles were reversed.”

“Paul, if Jenny were here, she would be yelling at you to go to the hospital, too.” She countered. “You’re no good to her if you pass out from blood loss.”

“She’s right, man.” Johnny agreed.

“Okay, Paige, Johnny, you go take him to the hospital,” Mike ordered. “I’m going to the prison.”

“What, alone?” Paige asked. “You’re not exactly of sound mind right now.”

“I’ll be fine.” He tried to say calmly. But she had a point. He wasn’t thinking clearly anymore. And he probably wasn’t going to be thinking clearly until they found Jenny. One thing was for certain, if he did come across Trevor Langley, he was going to cause serious harm.

Johnny held up a hand. “I’ll go with Mike. Paige, you get Briggs to the hospital.” Without further delay, the two men sped through the door. Paige threw Briggs arm over her shoulder and lifted him up to his feet. Dalton saw her struggling and ran over to help her.

“If anything happens to that girl…” Paul muttered aloud.

“She’ll be fine.” Paige tried to reassure him. “If there’s one thing I know to be true, is that she’s not going down without a fight.”

>>>

“What kind of prison doesn’t have cameras set up on the outside?” Mike demanded of the security guard aggressively.

The guard was not happy with being shoved around by this FBI asshole, so he shrugged. “Maybe if you federal guys gave your federal prisons more money. We’re mostly concerned on what happens inside versus outside. We don’t have the funds for both.”

“Then, show me your security footage from yesterday. The visitor’s room around 6 pm.” He ordered rudely.

The security guard rolled his eyes and opened the digital folder that archived the footage from yesterday. Mike stared at one of the screens as it played the security footage. The guard flipped through the various angles until Mike pointed to the screen. “There she is!” He exclaimed, seeing her sitting down at one of the stalls, her purse at her feet. She looked around nervously and chewed on her thumbnail, clearly waiting for someone. Mike wished that he hadn’t been such a dick to her. Maybe she would have never come here.

Johnny came running into the security office. “Hey, I just ran up and down the parking lot,” He panted, clearly not exaggerating when he said “running”. “I couldn’t find her car anywhere.”

“But she was here. Look.” Mike motioned for him to look on the screen, just as Bello was sat down on the other side of the glass from her. They were clearly having some sort of brief exchange before Jenny held up her badge to him.

“Did she just show Bello her badge?” Johnny guffawed in awe. “Damn, that girl’s got balls.” They continued to watch as she brought out a case file and showed him pictures. After a couple of pictures, Bello was escorted away. Jenny took a moment to think, clearly upset about something the way her shoulders slumped. But then she suddenly gathered up her stuff and quickly ran towards the door.

“Hey, I remember that chick.” The guard squinted at the screen.

Mike faced him eagerly. “You do?”

“Yeah, you don’t forget an ass like that around here.” He replied.

Johnny saw Mike’s fists clench and roughly pulled the man back before he let his fists fly. “Did you see where she went after?” Johnny asked.

“She was kinda rude and seemed to be in a hurry.” The guard replied, eyeing Mike carefully. “But she asked for her keys and phone and left. She did stop just outside the doors though.”

“What?” Mike’s fists were still clenched at his side.

“Yeah, I think she was looking for something. But then what I assumed her boyfriend came up behind her and that’s when I stopped paying attention.” He chuckled. “Figures all the good ones are taken, right?”

“What did he look like?” Johnny held an arm in front of Mike, just in case.

“I don’t know. Dark hair, athletic guy. He snuck up behind her to surprise her or something. That was when I stopped watching.”

Johnny was able to drag Mike out of the security office not too long after that. Mike still wanted to land a punch or two across the guy’s face, but he tried to turn his focus back on finding Jenny. The two of them stood outside the main doors, seeing if they could find any clues as to what happened.

“Do you think we should talk to Bello?” Johnny asked him, as they searched the ground.

“I don’t think he’ll talk to either of us, Johnny.” Mike said, remembering the last time he had seen Bello in person was when Bello was beating the snot out of him and ripping open the stitches from a stab wound.

“Still, he might have actually seen the dude.” Johnny said. “Man, this is all sorts of messed up.”

“Yeah, no shit.” Suddenly, Mike’s eye landed on something red hidden amongst the rocks in the landscape. He reached down to discover it was a piece of paper. As he unfolded it, he wanted to scream or burst into tears or both. “She was grabbed here.” He said quietly.

“How do you know?” Johnny looked over at him, seeing what he was holding. Mike turned to show him the rehab flier with the red birds that Jenny had made for him.

“Because she’s giving me a sign.”

>>>

Jenny didn’t remember falling asleep. Time was almost nonexistent since being captured. There was no clock anywhere, so she never knew if one hour had passed or 12. But her body had collapsed against the concrete wall, her wrists still bound above her head. Her arms were basically numb at this point, all the blood trying to fight gravity, but not always winning. Several bruises and cuts littered her body. If she moved too quickly, pain would ripple through her body like a rock hitting a still pond. All this made time to go by even slower.

“Jenny, you awake?” A voice called to her as she slowly opened her heavy eyes. It took a couple of times for her to blink the sleepiness away, but soon the image of a familiar face came into focus. And it wasn’t Trevor’s.

“Warner?” She grunted, trying desperately to keep her eyes open. But she could make out the blurry image of her friend’s face, staring back at her. A sense of relief washed over her. “Oh, Warner. Thank god. Quick, get me out of here before Trevor comes back.”

The man smiled. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” There was a sniveling sneerness to his voice that made Jenny feel cold.

“What?” Her stomach felt the familiar dropping feeling.

“I gotta tell you, Jenn. Some part of me finds this very therapeutic.” Without warning, he smacked her across the face, earning a gasp from her.

Jenny’s mind went wild as she recovered from the blow. How did Warner find her? And why was he hitting her? “What the hell?”

“’What the hell?’ Is that all you have to say?” Warner gripped her chin roughly and forced her to look him in the eye. “I’m almost disappointed in you.”

She stared back at him. No, this couldn’t be happening. Not her friend. She was supposed to be a good judge of character. “Warner, what are you doing?”

“I think that should be obvious by now.” He pushed her face back and settled into the folding chair across from her. “I always knew I was smarter than you.”

Jenny shook her head in disbelief. Maybe it was all the time she had spent in captivity or all the physical blows to her head, but her rate of thought processing was much slower than usual. “I don’t understand.”

“Okay, fine.” Warner rolled his eyes. “I’ll spell it out for you. I work for Langley. Surprise!” He wiggled his hands dramatically with a smug smirk on his face.

“I don’t believe this.”

“Oh, come on. You and I never saw eye to eye on anything. Is it really so much of a stretch that I would leap to the other side?” Warner folder his arms across his chest.

If Jenny hadn’t been chained to a wall, she might have kicked herself for being so stupid. Instead, she practically smacked her head against the concrete wall. “That’s why we couldn’t find anything on Trevor. And how he knew about the house.”

An odd smile formed over his face. “See? Now, you’re getting it. Finally got a chance to see what undercover work is like. Or being a double agent. Honestly, it’s kinda fun. I can see why you like it.”

She closed her eyes, letting shame and self-hatred take over. How could she have missed something as big as this? “Why?”

“Why? You really don’t know why?” He challenged, leaning forward a little. The same bitterness shone in his eyes that was there when he reminded her of why he was so angry at her in the first place.

“I already apologized…”

“Yeah, but it’s not enough. And… it was way too late. Trevor and I have been partners for years. Maybe if you took the time to think about other people, we could have avoided this whole situation.”

“So all this was to get back at me?” She could feel tears slip down her cheeks. Being physically assaulted had seemed to make her much more emotional than normal.

“Not initially, no.” Warner explained casually. “Truth be told, I haven’t thought about you in years, Jenny. After countless rejections from the Bureau, I drank my problems away. One night, I found a drinking buddy. Turned out that drinking buddy was in need of some smart guy who was handy with computers and was willing to pay handsomely. And when Trevor told me that some FBI agent hired him, I didn’t really think much of it. We’ve dealt with your kind before. Honestly, you would be surprised by how many agents seek us out. But then, when you sent me that coded message and told us that you were the one who had hired him. Well… it just seemed like a sign.”

“I don’t believe in signs.” She muttered angrily.

“No… but Mike does.” He flashed her a knowing smile.

She stared at him intensely. When she had told her team about Mike and his detoxing, she had also let it slip about his “vision” and brush with death. But now, she was regretting saying anything. “I told you that as a friend. I trusted you, Warner.”

“Trusted me so much that you lied to me?” He inquired. “Honestly, I didn’t even get the idea to do all this until after I found out about your precious house. Then, I guess you could say… it triggered something in me. Here you were, living my life. I was supposed to have your job. But after you stole it from me, it completely ruined me. No one wanted to hire me. Until I found Trevor.”

“I never meant to hurt you.” She pleaded, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Well, you did. As usual. Jenny Briggs always got everything. Status, popularity, notoriety. Everything. I never got shit.”

“So now what, Warner?” She smiled ruefully at him. “You gonna kill me?”

“No.” He shrugged. “You’re going to tell me who Odin Rossi is. Or… I’ll kill someone in the house. Well, actually, Trevor is the one who gets his hands dirty. I just point him in the right direction. I’m thinking my vote is going to… that asshole boyfriend of yours.”

Jenny fought against her chains yet again. “You leave him alone!”

Warner laughed as he saw her struggle. “I never thought I would see you get so crazed about some guy. And I would have thought that he was ready to call things off with you after finding you with me.”

“I will kill you, I swear to God!” She exclaimed in anger.

“You act like you have any position of authority here. But I’m not the one strapped to a wall, Jenny. And if you don’t tell us who Odin Rossi is, then we are going after your precious Mike. Personally, I hope Trevor cuts up that pretty boy face of his.”

Jenny let her head drop towards the floor. She knew what she had to do, even though she was hoping to avoid it as long as possible. Some part of her hoped that the house would come bursting through the door at any moment and let her take her revenge on her captors. But they all thought she was blowing off steam from her fight with Mike. The last things she said to him… But there was a way that she could save them. “Fine.” She sobbed in defeat. “I’ll tell you. But you might want to go grab your boss because I’m only going to say it once.”


	20. Narrow

“Okay, this is a bit of a roller coaster, so strap in.” Charlie told the house. Paige, Johnny, Mike, and Dale were gathered on the couch. Paul was still being patched up at the hospital from when Johnny shot him in the leg, as he was starting to get an infection from the wound. The doctors brought him into surgery. Paige was grateful that he was going to be put under anesthetics; maybe that way, he wouldn’t drive them crazy about wanting to help find Jenny. But Charlie had called them all back to the house after working with Dalton and Sammy to locate Jenny. “So we looked up this guy, Trevor Langley, and he’s a real asshole.”

“He’s a professional hitman, as we all know.” Sammy explained, as Dalton handed the housemates copies of Langely’s file. “He’s been at it for years but has never been caught. Due to the fact that he always seems to be one-step ahead of the law.”

“Is this right?” Dale asked pointing to the piece of paper in front of him. “He could be responsible for over 200 deaths?”

“At least.” Charlie shrugged. “But here’s the kicker. I spoke with this one agent that’s been trailing this guy’s career. He seems to think that the man has a silent partner.”

“Okay, but his file also says he once killed his partner.” Paige pointed out.

Johnny snickered. “Yeah, doesn’t exactly sound like a team player.”

“How else could he avoid detection? Trevor’s good at making the dead guys dead, but he’s not exactly subtle.” Charlie said.

“And Jenny had us tracking his movements.” Dalton spoke up. “And nothing jumped out as suspicious. Which is why we think his silent partner is tech-savvy.”

“Someone who can access police files and scatter the man’s data so he’s virtually untraceable.” Sammy added.

“How tech-savvy we talking?” Dale asked.

“Well, it’s definitely no amateur.” Dalton told him. “To be able to do all that, the partner has to have had experience.”

“But that’s not even the best part.” Sammy turned her laptop around and sat it on the coffee table. Everyone leaned in to see what was on the screen. “I searched the traffic cams near the prison where we last knew Jenny was. I ran facial recognition software and found…” She gestured to the computer. Everyone could see a picture of a man at the wheel of a car. Paige held up Trevor Langley’s mugshot next to the screen.

“Trevor Langely.” She said.

Mike squinted at the screen, seeing what looked like someone strewn across the back seat. Even though the face was settled behind one of the car seats, he could see most of the torso. He recognized the outfit from the day before. “And Jenny’s in the back seat.” He pointed, wishing he could have been there.

“But wait there’s more.” Sammy held up a finger with a smile. She hit a key to show a zoomed-out photo of Trevor Langley. There was a car depicted behind him.

“That’s her car.” Johnny said excitedly.

“Yeah, the plates confirm that.” Sammy nodded. “But unfortunately,” She hit another key to show a zoomed in photo of the driver of her car. “Whoever was driving her car put the sun visor down in front of their face. So we can’t run the same facial recognition software on him.”

“But it’s a man from what we can tell.” Charlie mentioned. They could all see the torso of a man wearing a plaid shirt. Mike knew that shirt…

“So the partner drove Jenny’s car and followed behind Langley.” Dale explained aloud, mostly to keep things straight in his head.

“Yeah, and that’s as far as we have gotten so far.” Dalton told them. “We’re trying to see if we can map where the cars went by tracking them through traffic cams. Maybe we can get the location within a couple of minutes.”

“Guys,” Mike said suddenly, still staring at the computer screen. “I know who’s driving her car.”

“What?” They all looked to him expectantly.

“He was wearing that shirt yesterday when he was here…” He said aloud.

“Who was?” Paige asked.

“Warner.” He told them confidently.

Sammy had to laugh at the thought. “Warner? It can’t be Warner.”

“Why not?” Mike challenged. “You said yourself that the silent partner needs to be tech-savvy. And wasn’t Warner a part of your little crew?”

“That could explain why you couldn’t track Trevor’s movements.” Paige thought aloud.

“No, you’re wrong.” Sammy insisted. “Warner wouldn’t do that to us. And not to Jenny.”

“They never did get along…” Dalton supposed. “And they did have a falling out yesterday.”

She turned to face him. “But that doesn’t mean he helped kidnap her, Dalton. All of us, we’re friends first. That’s been the code we’ve stuck to since the beginning.”

“He was pretty mad at her yesterday.” Mike added. “And… I don’t see him here now.”

Dalton shook his head. “Jesus.” Just then, one of the computers beeped loudly. Dalton and Sammy attended to the computer that beeped, while everyone else waited patiently. “We found the cars.”

>>>

“You’re Odin Rossi?” Trevor asked Jenny, not believing her at all.

“Always have been.” Jenny’s voice sounded like a frog from the lack of sufficient water and all the screaming she had done. Of course, Jenny was lying. She could have never been Odin Rossi. But she was doing it to save her housemates. There was a strange sense of calm that had settled over her as she spoke. Normally, she would have been fighting and telling them both to go to hell. But this was a normal situation. She was at peace with her decision, since it was the only outcome where no one else died because of her.

“She’s lying.” Warner seethed. He stood behind Trevor, letting steam roll out of his nostrils.

“Think about it, boys.” She continued. “Odin’s been able to avoid detection. Never been seen or caught on camera. You think that’s just coincidence? Only someone who’s really good at surveillance could pull that off.”

“So, you expect me to believe that you hired me to kill you?” Trevor questioned.

She shrugged, despite her shoulder feeling stiff. “Too much of a coward to do it myself. Plus, I was wanting to see if you really had the balls to pull it off.”

Trevor knew that she was trying to get under his skin. Maybe to try and convince him to actually kill her. He tried to ignore her taunts. “You said that Odin’s caused you and everyone you care about nothing but trouble.” He reminded her.

Jenny was a Briggs, after all. Lying came pretty easy to them. “Yeah, he has. I started Odin just to make some more money. But it took on a life of its own, in almost mythic proportions, and it turned into a whole mess. I nearly destroyed my friends’ lives by continuing to be Odin. And I’m just tired now. Maybe it’s time to pay for my sins.”

“You’re just trying to save your precious boyfriend.” Warner sneered at her.

“We broke up. Why do you think he hasn’t been calling me? He seems to think that Warner and I are thing.” She bellowed for a moment before coughing on her own spit. “Men are such dumbasses.”

“I still don’t buy it.” Trevor shook his head.

“You don’t have to.” She told him. “Maybe I am lying or maybe everything I’m saying is true. But you want to know something, Trevor? You’re going to kill me either way.”

Warner took a step forward, but Trevor held out an arm to stop him. “What makes you say that?” He asked curiously.

Jenny smiled, seeing that her taunts were working. Men were very easy to manipulate if you knew what made them tick. And almost all of them had egos the size of skyscrapers. “Because you don’t care. You don’t care about Odin Rossi. That’s not what all of this is about. You’re tired of getting beat by a girl. An FBI agent, no less. Every minute I’m alive is another piece of your reputation swallowed in flame. You kill me, then all your troubles disappear. Odin dies with me either way.”

“Don’t listen to this lying bitch.” Warner snapped. He knelt down before her and clutched her throat. “Tell me the truth, Jenny.”

Even still, she felt calm. She was at peace with her decision. So there was no struggle or resistance from him. Instead, she just started back at him with a weak smile. “You can’t handle the truth.” 

Warner punched her stomach and lifted himself back to his feet, facing Trevor. “You can’t seriously be considering this.”

“She has been awfully annoying.” He contemplated his options.

“Don’t you see? This is what she wants.” He argued. “We kill her and we’re playing right into her hands. I say, we go pay her roommates a visit.”

Trevor regarded his partner thoughtfully. “I thought you said this wasn’t about revenge.”

Warner shrugged. “It’s not.” But they both knew that it was.

“You don’t want to kill me, Warner?” Jenny asked, after finally regaining her breath back. “You just told me yourself that I’ve taken everything from you. Well, this is your shot. Take your revenge.”

“I’m not a killer.” He protested. Truthfully, he couldn’t stand the sight of blood. There was a reason why he never argued or tried to get in on the kills that Trevor did.

“Maybe not.” She nodded to Langley. “But he is. He’s a textbook serial killer. Isn’t that right, Trevor? Tell our mutual friend here how you beat your childhood best friend to the ground. And tell him how much you liked it.”

Warner faced Trevor again, giving him another warning look. “She’s still trying to play an angle. This is what she does.”

“What angle is that?” She challenged. “I’m just sitting here trying to see if the men I see before me are actually men. And not weak-willed boys.” She saw Trevor’s fists clench tightly. “Plus, I’ve seen your faces. I know who you are. If you don’t kill me, I’ll send every cop and agent I can after your asses.”

“You wouldn’t dare.” Warner reached down and clamped another hand around her throat.

With a gasp, she forced a smile over her face. “Try me.”

“She’s right.” Trevor withdrew a key from his pocket and unlocked her wrists from the chains, roughly pushing Warner out of the way. As soon as her wrists were free, she let them fall to the ground with a thud.

Examining her wrists and rubbing the part that had been bound only a moment ago, she chuckled. “Was that all it took to get me out of those infernal chains?”

Warner took a chunk of her hair in his hand and yanked on it, indicating that he wanted her to stand up. She yelped in pain and struggled to straighten her legs from under her. The lower half of her body was still weak, but eventually she was able to land flat on her feet. “How we doing this, boss?” Warner asked.

Trevor swung his arms around his body to stretch them out. “I say the ol’ standby seems fitting at this point.”

Jenny laughed at him. “Men are so predictable. Relying on your fists no matter what. I bet you’re compensating for a lot.”

Trevor didn’t like that comment because he whacked her across the face. Warner let her drop to the ground, blood already dripping from her nose. Jenny felt the world around her spin, and everything seemed to be far away. She almost felt like an observer, watching her own beating taking place. While she was down, Trevor landed a few kicks on her ribs. In the distance she heard a crack that she figured must have been a bone snapping. A cry escaped her, but she barely felt it. Jenny laid there on the concrete floor, allowing the blows and letting herself slip out of consciousness.

>>>

Mike heard a cry from down the long hall and felt his stomach churn. Dalton and Sammy had tracked the cars parked in front of an abandoned factory of some sort. The housemates of Graceland had called in a TAC team to meet them there, as they all geared up for the takedown. What they didn’t realize was that it was a rather large building. Trying to find Jenny was going to take a while. But Mike tried to let the size psych him out. _Focus, just find Jenny._

But when he heard her cry, he only saw red. Clamping down on his jaw, he nodded for Johnny, Dale, Charlie, and Paige to follow him towards the sound. All of them were feeling the same amount of anger, ready to beat the guys who were causing their girl to cry out in pain. They looked in each small room along the way trying to figure out where the sound was coming from. Mike could feel his hope of finding her dwindling slowly. _Hang on, Jenny. I’m coming._

As they went further down, the sounds of a fight taking place grew louder and louder. They could hear fists meeting skin, grunts and cries of pain. Mike almost felt the blows, as if he were the one getting beaten. _I swear to God, I will kill him._ Soon, they came across a closed door. All the other doors were wide open or had fallen off due to lack of upkeep on the building itself. The team all nodded to each other, bracing themselves for what they would find. Paige put a hand on the door and started to count down on her fingers from three. Mike could hear grunts on the other side of the door becoming weaker and weaker. _I’ll kill this man._

Paige swung the door open and everyone started yelling and pointing their weapons towards the two men standing. “FBI, hands up!” It took a moment for everyone to file in the small room. When Mike got inside, he saw Johnny and Dale shoving Trevor Langely up against a wall, as the man struggled to fight the guys off him. Paige rushed over to help them get cuffs on the hitman. Warner was now kneeling with his hands above his head, as Charlie started to place cuffs on him. Both Warner and Trevor started shouting loudly, yelling at the agents that were now escorting them out of the room. Mike stepped out of the way, glaring at each men with enough anger to actually shoot lasers out of his eyes.

Warner smiled at him, as Charlie pushed him past Mike. “You’re too late, Hollister.” He taunted him. “She’s already gone.”

Then, Mike’s gaze fell to the floor. Jenny was lying on her side, her face bloodied and battered, clothes torn and dirty. From what he could tell, she was not moving. _Oh, god._

He put away his gun and dropped to his knees beside her. “Jenny?” He gently pushed some of the matted hair out of her face. “Jenny, can you hear me?” He could see all the bruises and scrapes on her body, feeling helpless that he couldn’t heal them immediately.

“Medic! We need a medic in here!” Paige hollered down the hallway. 

Jenny stirred a little. She could hear Mike’s voice, but it almost seemed like he was calling to her from across a wide open field. Her eyes couldn’t see anymore. She had already lost a lot of blood, and her body was barely working anymore. “Mike…” She managed to croak.

“I’m here.” He said, tears forming in his eyes. “I’m right here. Stay with me. Please.” She tried to listen, wanting nothing more than to tell him that she was alright and help calm him down. But Jenny was battling against her own battered body. It had suffered too much trauma. She slowly slipped into unconsciousness, Mike’s voice getting more and more distant with every second. “Jenny, no! Jenny!”


	21. Dream

Dreams are a funny thing. The subconscious part of your brain takes over and forms scenes and scenarios that feed from your consciousness. Some people think dreams ought to be interpreted; that they are sign from something in the universe and you have to decipher its meaning. Some people think dreams are only meant to help you pass the time when you’re asleep; to give your brain some entertainment while the senses are resting. Others just think of dreams as normal things. Nothing special to them at all. Just a normal function of a working brain. Jenny never remembered her dreams. She could never keep a dream journal, because she never remembered anything about her dreams. She had never taken too much stock in dreams. To her, they were a normal function of a working brain. But this one, she would never forget.

She was standing in the middle of some sort of wooded area. Trees everywhere in full bloom. So much green surrounded her. She was standing in tall grass that came up to her armpits. As she walked, she let her hands brush over the top of the grass, letting the tips tickle her skin. Something told her to keep moving towards the tree line up ahead. A gentle breeze brushed through her hair, she could smell the crisp scent of nature. There was something familiar about her surroundings, even though she had never been here before. As she reached a tree line, her attention was grabbed by birds taking off in the sky. Jenny watched them fly above her head, a blur of red passing by her line of vision. Somehow, she knew how many there were. 47. As they disappeared over the tree line, they flew in an arch formation.

The sound of a twig snapping behind her drew her attention that way. She turned to see a tunnel lined with trees. At the end of the path was an old grandfather clock, the time read 10:10. She stepped closer to it, feeling compelled to go down the tunnel. Green surrounded her. Every plant seemed to be in full bloom. In a flash, she saw a man standing and facing the clock, his back was to her. Reaching a hand up and resting it on his shoulder, the man turned and gave her a smile. Mike. She took a step back from him, as he reached out his hand for her.

Then, everything was consumed in bright flash of white, and Jenny closed and shielded her eyes. Despite the brightness, she didn't feel scared or worried. There was a sense of calm in the light. Soon, she could hear high-pitched beeping getting closer and closer. Slowly, she felt a bed underneath her as if she was slowly falling on top of it. She could feel the sheets and the softness of the mattress cradle and swaddle her. As her eyes slowly opened, she saw a paneled ceiling above her. A quick scan around her, she gathered that she was in a hospital room, hooked up to various amounts of machines. She no longer felt groggy. She felt as though she had just awakened from the best sleep of her life. Soon, her eyes fell on the man who was asleep and resting his head by her waist.

“Mike…” She grunted; her voice still weak. Her hand wiggled slightly as she reached out to nudge his hand. Mike awoke with a start, his blue eyes scanning the room in alert, thinking that a doctor or nurse was waking him up to tell him bad news. He saw Jenny’s sleepy smile and her half-open hazel eyes and instantly let relief wash over him. Since he had found her on that concrete floor, he had not left her side. Well, he did when he was physically forced out of the surgery room by a surprisingly strong nurse. After Charlie practically cuffed him to a chair so he would calm down and stop trying to attack the nurses, he sat and held his breath. Charlie and the rest of the house had waited in the waiting room for what seemed like years, hoping that Jenny would pull through. When they had gotten the good news that Jenny had made it through surgery, tears of joy and gasps of relief were exchanged. Then, he cemented himself in the hospital room, waiting for her to wake up. He hadn't realized that he had fallen asleep, though.

“Hey,” He smiled, inching closer to her upper body and taking her hand in his. “How you feeling?”

“Peachy.” Jenny smiled, pain starting to slowly return to her. The memories of her captivity flashed in her brain like strobe lights. “What happened?”

Mike tried to keep a brave face, even though he felt like weeping for joy. He had thought only a few hours ago that he would never be able to talk with her again. Now, he studied her bruised face as if he were committing to memory. “We got Langley. And Warner. They’re both sitting behind bars as we speak. Thanks to your friends, Sammy and Dalton.” 

Her smile grew wider. Maybe she didn’t have the worst taste in friends. She tried to adjust herself on the mattress before feeling her torso complain at the movement. “How long was I out?”

“20 hours, 13 minutes, and about 43 seconds.” He replied quickly. “Not that I’ve been counting. You have a few broken ribs, but no punctured lungs, plenty of internal bleeding…”

“I get it.” She told him, feeling the bruised parts of her body. Trevor Langley had definitely left his mark on her. She told herself to breathe slowly through her pain.

He gripped her hand tighter, sensing her pain. “You know… I’m the one who’s usually in the hospital bed.”

“Yeah, well, it looked like fun. I didn’t want to feel left out.” Jenny quipped, still trying not to think about her pain. She knew that she was hooked up to a morphine IV, but she wanted to try and push through it.

Mike could have wept at her making jokes. Hearing her sarcasm and quick wit was almost like music to his ears. “You gave me quite a scare, you know?” He began to rub her arm gently.

Everything that happened was slowly returning to her. Memories of being chained in that concrete room and beaten senseless. And with it came an overwhelming sense of shame. “I’m so sorry, Mike.” A single tear escaped from one of her eyes.

He reached up to wipe it away, shaking his head gently. “No, don’t be. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been a dick.”

“I should’ve told you.” Jenny couldn’t stop the tears from coming. With her body being so broken, her emotional defenses were just as low. “About Langley, about everything. I just wanted to try and do it on my own. And before I knew it, I was drowning and... I’m so sorry.”

Mike gave her a gentle smile, remembering what she had told him when she had confronted him about his addiction. “I forgive anything you’ve ever done or said.”

Jenny let out a sob. “You shouldn’t.”

Again, he squeezed her hand, trying to transfer all of the emotions he felt through his hands. “Yeah, well, I kinda love you, so get over it.”

That put a smile on her face again. “You don’t hate me?”

“We’ve both done things we regret, Jenn. I mean, I could practically write a book filled with all of mine. But none of that matters anymore. Because here we are.” He placed a kiss in her palm. "It's seems as though we can't rid of each other."

She squeezed his hand. “I promise I’m not going to keep anything else from you ever again.”

“Ditto.” Mike stood enough to bring their faces together, placing a gentle kiss on her lips. They savored the sensation, feeling that familiar shockwave and safety net they had always felt with each other. Since the first time they met, or their first kiss, they both knew that whatever it was between them was something not easily forgotten. As they rested their foreheads against each other, all thoughts and feelings were able to transfer back and forth without either of them having to say a word. The way it had always been.

“You’ll never guess the dream I just had.” Jenny smiled.

“What was it about?” He asked, pulling back just enough to look into her eyes again and brushing a strand of hair out of her face.

“I saw trees. And red birds. And a clock.” She explained. “Everything that you saw… I was there.”

He didn’t know if she was joking around with him or not. But the look on her face, and her general state of health, told him that she wasn’t. “You’re kidding.”

“No, I’m not. It was… exactly how you described it. Everything. But then at the end of the tunnel, where the grandfather clock stood… I saw you.”

All he could do was shake his head in awe. “So what does it mean?”

“I don’t know. I still think it’s bullshit.” They both let out a chuckle. “But… maybe… it was supposed to help us find our way back to each other.”

Mike smiled as a single tear fell down his cheek. Their lips found their way back to each other, thanking whatever force that allowed them to be together.

“Hey, Mike,” Both of them turned to see Johnny and Paige smiling at them in the doorway. Johnny giggled. “I think she's awake now. Maybe she doesn’t need mouth to mouth anymore.”

“Hey, guys.” Jenny rolled her eyes with a smile, glad to see her old friends again. Mike sank back into his chair as the two of them entered.

“How you feeling, babe?” Paige asked, walking to other side of the bed and resting a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“Like a million bucks.” Jenny shrugged carefully.

“You look like shit, J.B.” Johnny teased, nudging her foot.

“Johnny.” Mike scolded him.

“Hey, you should see the other guy.” She shot back at him. “Where’s the rest of the gang?”

Mike, Paige, and Johnny all exchanged uncomfortable looks. Charlie and Dale were with Paul, who was recovering from his surgery in a different part of the hospital. Jenny didn’t know that he had been shot and why. Paige and Johnny didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news. But Mike was ready to stay true to his promise. “Um, well… it’s kind of a long story.”

>>>

“Jenny, don’t be ridiculous.” Charlie told her, as she and Mike tried to help her sit up in her hospital bed. A couple days had passed since her surgery and still, Jenny refused any pain medications. “You have three busted ribs and a skull fracture. I think a little bit of pain killers will do you fine.”

Jenny winced in pain as they helped her upright. “No, I’m fine as is. See? It doesn’t hurt as bad as it did yesterday. I’ll be good as new in no time.”

“You don’t have to be like this.” Mike rolled his eyes. They had gone back and forth on it over the last couple of days, but of course, Jenny refused to give in. “You don’t have to deny yourself medicine because of what happened to me.”

“Cavemen survived for years without pain killers.” Jenny retorted, leaning against the pillow Mike just put behind her back. “I think I can manage.”

“Cavemen also thought fire was a gift from the gods.” Charlie poked her shoulder. “Your comparison stinks.”

“Thank you, Charlie.” Mike felt relieved to be hearing an opposing argument from someone else. "Maybe someone like you can talk some sense into her."

“My body, my rules.” She insisted, feeling the pain of her torso waning slightly. “I will let nature takes its course and leave it at that.”

Paul Briggs poked his head in the door and smiled. “Still no luck getting her to take meds?” His leg was finally healed, or at least, healed enough to be released from the hospital. During both of their recovery time, Jenny and Paul had been able to visit each other from time to time, which made the time seem to go by a little faster.

“What do you think?” Charlie rubbed her temples.

“Have you thought of force feeding her?” He joked.

Jenny let out a sarcastic chuckle. “Just try it. I dare you.”

“Finally free?” Mike asked him.

Briggs nodded. “Yes, sir. Just got my release papers but thought I would come pop in and see how my lil sis is doing. When are you being released again?”

“Not for at least another couple of days.” She replied. “Depends on when my body decides to get over this whole pain thing.”

“Usually, that’s what medicine is for.” Mike jabbed at her.

“Okay, that’s it.” Jenny pointed out the door. “Hit the bricks, Warren.”

“Jenny.”

“No, I’m serious.” She insisted. “You, too, Mama. I want some quality time with my bro.”

“Fine,” Charlie rolled her eyes. “Come on, Mikey, let’s get the caveman a juice box or something.”

“How about Jello?” She asked, giving him a wink

“Jello is only for good boys and girls, remember?” He countered, sticking his tongue out at her, as Charlie pulled him through the door.

Paul laughed at their departure and sat down on the bed at her feet. “Glad to see that you and Levi are back in each other’s good graces.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, well. Can't seem to get rid of him." Jenny looked over her brother in concern. After hearing about him being shot in the leg, she reverted back to her worrying self. "Are you sure you’re feeling better?”

He patted his bandaged leg. “Right as rain. Should be cleared for duty soon enough.”

“Remind me later to kill Johnny for doing that to you.”

“Ha, yes ma’am.” Paul gave her a salute and a chuckle. But then some seriousness fell between them. “So, you’re all caught up on the latest, then?”

Jenny shifted her gaze down to her hands that were settled in her lap. “Mike told me about the Sarkissian thing.” She heard her brother sigh. “You used him? All for an empty can of gas?”

“I wanted to end it without being the sin-eater, remember?” Paul shrugged. “This was the best way for me and everyone else to stay alive.”

“That’s bullshit.” Jenny scoffed. “You could have at least told someone. Told me, or Mike at the very least. What you did was wrong and you know it.”

“According the report I’m trying to submit,” Her brother said. “Mike was the one who put an end to the whole thing.”

“Yeah, I know. He showed me the report.” Jenny raised her gaze to meet Paul’s. “And now, Mike is put in a rather difficult position. Either he signs off on your report and he perjures himself, Gusti gets dropped off in Guantanamo Bay, and you walk free and clear. Or he tells the Bureau everything, about all the shit we’ve done. Covering up Toros’ death, Mike’s addiction, Trevor Langley…”

“What do you want me to do, Jenn?” He asked defensively.

“I want you to be honest with me.” She demanded. “For once in your goddamn life. Are you… Odin Rossi?”

He swallowed thickly. His instinct was to lie or find a way to distract her to change the subject. But after what she had been through, he couldn’t do that anymore. “I was. But I haven’t been since Jangles.”

Jenny clenched her jaw, trying not to scream at him. Mike had been very honest with her, and she still had more questions. “Did you kill Juan Badillo?”

Again, Paul had to fight the urge to hide the truth. He had spent so much time trying to hide things from her. “Yes.”

“And did you…” Jenny tried to keep her voice even and calm. “Ask Dale to skim money for you from his laundering case?” Apparently, the day before, when Mike had talked to the house about wanting to disclose everything that the house had done, Dale had shown them the duffel bag he had brought back from Florida. $9 million. Dale then told them the story of him, getting too drunk and killing a sex offender that was getting too close to his son. He had called Paul to help dispose of the body. Which is why Dale thought that he owed Paul the favor of stealing $9 million for him.

“I’m not going to prison, Jenn.” Paul said plainly.

Finally, Jenny couldn’t hold back her emotions anymore. Her face twisted, as she felt tears pour down her cheeks. Hands flew up to wipe them away. “Paul, why didn’t you just tell me? Why couldn’t you have been honest? I could have tried to help you or something.”

“I’m sorry,” He rubbed her ankle lightly, trying to hold back his own guilty tears. “I thought I could it all on my own. I thought I could come out on top, but…”

“But now, you have people lying for you and covering things up and stealing a butt load of cash. All to protect you.” She shook her head. “When is it all going to end?”

“It has. Once Mike signs off on that report, that’s it. It’s all done.”

“No. This is not Mike’s decision. He is not the one who gets to decide the fate of the house. You do.” Jenny locked eyes with him. “Everything, all of this, it’s all thanks to you and things you’ve done. We can’t keep covering for you anymore. You made this mess, now you need to fix it.”

“And how exactly do you want me to do that?” Paul challenged.

Jenny felt her heart break in two. “By doing the one thing you’ve refused to do.”

Briggs had to stand and pace. “I can’t believe this. You actually want me to go to prison?”

“No, I don’t.” She was openly sobbing now. “But Paul, look at me. Look at what I have been through. I took a goddamn beating and nearly let myself get killed to protect you.”

He couldn’t face her, feeling nothing but shame. “I’m sorry, Jenn.”

“No, because I would gladly make that decision again, Paul.” She told him. “You’re my brother and I love you. So I will continue to protect you at all costs, even if it means sacrificing myself. Even now, even though I am furious at you, I would still willingly volunteer to be Langley's punching bag before I would let him hurt you. You're my brother and I love you, but... you're killing me. Is that what you want?”

“Of course not.”

“Then, make the decision for me.” Jenny felt pain return to her body, but she didn’t care. She had to get through to her brother. "I can't turn you in. I won't turn you in. You need to do this. You are the one who can make this decision."

“So you would have me spend the rest of my life in Rikers?”

No, it wasn’t really what she wanted. Of course, she would rather do anything to keep her brother from spending his life in jail cell. But, after all the events that had happened over the last year, including the most recent ones, something had to give. He couldn’t keep running like this forever. “If you turn yourself in, if you cooperate, they will be more willing to negotiate your sentence…”

“I am not hearing this.” He shook his head violently. “I can’t actually be hearing this. My own sister is turning her back on me.”

“I’m doing it _for_ you, dumbass!” The amount of gumption she put behind those words made her wince in pain. A hand instinctively covered her ribs, but she kept going. “Mike would never burn the house. He’s always been a good little soldier. He will sign off on that report, but it will kill him. He’ll never forgive you. And all of us, we know… we know everything now. You can’t hide from us. And we don’t trust you anymore. If you can’t trust who you’re in the field with, then who can you trust?” He stopped in front of her window to stare out of it, letting her words hit him like a ton of bricks. “Paul, I’m tired. I’m so tired of bending over backwards and pretending like everything you have done hasn’t been killing me slowly. I'm tired of you lying and sneaking around behind my back, no matter how just the cause is.”

“I guess I didn’t realize I was such a burden to you guys.” Paul could feel his anger rising slowly. “I know that I’m not a perfect person, and I know that I have made… several errors. But I’ve… I’ve been trying to do what’s right. Ever since dealing with Jangles last year, I realized that Odin needed to disappear, and I needed to get right again. So I hung up Odin's hat and I haven't been Odin ever since. And now... I’m trying to do some good in the world, Jenny. Doesn’t that count for something? The Sarkissians are done, Mike’s clean, Jeremiah Bello is behind bars, I had a hand in all that.”

“But look at what it almost cost you.” Jenny countered, which silenced him. He knew that he had almost lost Jenny. Turning back to look out the window, he tried not to think about what he would have done if Jenny had succumbed to her wounds. “Paul, I know you’re tired, too. You have been carrying around so many burdens and have worked so hard to maintain that. Don’t you want to stop? Don’t you want to finally let go of everything that’s holding you back? Aren't you tired of constantly looking behind your back? Because I see what it’s doing to you. It’s killing you. It’s eating away at you, piece by piece, until there will be nothing left of you. At least nothing _good_ will be left of you. And I… I can’t watch that happen. I won’t lose you.”

“But you’ll put me behind bars.” He replied solemnly.

Jenny wiped her cheeks dry. “I can sit here and beg you all day, and cry and beg and plead. But… at the end of the day… it is your choice. You can choose whatever you want, Paul. But know that whatever choice you do make… think about what it will cost you.”


	22. Home

“You say one word and we’re out of here.” Paige held Jenny’s hand and gripped it tightly. Having just being released from the hospital, there was only place Jenny had wanted to go. Paige had volunteered to take her to the prison, since Mike already had a meeting scheduled with Agent Logan. Everything in her was telling her to leave. To never look back. But a much stronger force compelled her to stay.

“I’m fine.” Jenny insisted as they walked down the hallway. The officers had agreed to let her have an audience with the man who had been haunting her for weeks. He would be chained to a table, so there was no chance of him raising a hand to her again.

They reached the door and Jenny hesitated. “Do you want me to go in with you?” Paige asked her.

Stiffly, Jenny shook her head. “No… this is something I have to do myself.”

Paige gave her friend’s and one more gentle squeeze. “Okay. I’ll be right here if you need anything.”

She gave her a small smile, unable to stop her nerves from going crazy. She felt as though she was standing on the edge of a cliff, staring down at the steep incline. “Do you think I’m crazy for doing this?”

“No.” She answered honestly. “I think you’re tough as shit.”

Jenny let out a small chuckle, wincing at her still sore torso. Most of her wounds had healed, but her ribs were still bruised. “Maybe not as tough as I used to be.”

“Well, now’s your chance to claim some of it back.” She nodded to the door.

After giving herself a silent pep talk, Jenny squared her shoulders and reached for the door handle. Stepping through the doorway, her eyes fell on the man in the orange jumpsuit, handcuffed to the table at the center of the blank and otherwise empty room. Nervousness instantly dissolved and only anger remained. “Hello, Warner.”

Warner glared back at her with a rueful smirk. “I should have known.” When the guards had roughly awoken him in his cell and brought him to the room, they had not given an explanation as to why. Now, their motives were clear. “So, what? Now’s your chance to get revenge or something?”

“No.” Jenny slowly made her way to sit across from him, making sure to steel her face so he wouldn’t know how much pain she still suffered. “I guess you can call this closure.”

He let out a bitter chuckle. “I’m going to spending the rest of my life in jail, Jenn. Pretty sure ‘closure’ has already occurred.”

She stared at her once good friend; her hazel eyes filled with intensity. “Do you feel an ounce of remorse?”

Warner lifted his hands slightly, gesturing towards the handcuffs. “I’m the one in chains now.”

“That’s not answering my question.”

“Well, your question stinks.” He retorted. “You’re asking me too broad of a question.”

“Fine, then let me be crystal clear.” Jenny leaned forward in her chair. “Do you regret letting Langley nearly kill me?”

Warner matched her movements and leaned in toward her. “My only regret is not having surveillance on that damned place. Maybe if I had taken a second to set up some sort of security system, I wouldn’t have gotten caught.”

Jenny wasn’t sure exactly what she had been hoping to gain from this interaction. Paige had tried to talk her out of coming here and speaking with Warner in the first place. But she just had to get through to him. Or at least try. “I loved you like a brother. Do you know that? You, Sammy, and Dalton, you were my best friends. I owe almost everything that I am today to you three.”

“Well,” He leaned back in his chair once again. “I guess I could say the same for you.”

“I don’t understand, Warner. You didn’t have to do any of this. If you had just talked to me…”

“I did!” He exclaimed, while slamming a fist down on the table. Jenny held up a hand towards the two-way mirror. She knew that Paige was watching and was ready to charge in, but she hoped that her raising her hand would tell her that she was fine. “I told you everything, Jenny. I told you all of my secrets, regrets, and even when I got offered a job at the FBI. I talked to you about it, but all that didn’t make a difference. Because you went ahead and claimed it all and took everything from me.”

“I didn’t mean to. I told you that. How many times do I have to apologize?”

“Yeah, but that’s the thing. You never ‘mean to’.” Warner’s face was twisted in anger, which, in truth, almost frightened her. “You’ve always been that way, Jenn. You do what you want, and you don’t care about anything or anyone else. You didn’t ‘mean to’ when you sent my mom to jail for embezzlement. You didn’t ‘mean to’ when you found out I was adopted.”

“Those were accidents!” She argued. “I didn’t want to find those things.”

“Yeah, but you did. And they sure as hell were convenient accidents. The thing is, almost every hardship I have faced can be traced back to you. You, Jenny Briggs, have been the cause to almost every single effect in my life. And when I found that Trevor had backed you in a corner, well… it seemed as though the universe had all but delivered a hand-wrapped present on my doorstep.”

Now, it was Jenny’s turn to lean back in her chair and think. Warner truly hated her; that much was clear now. How could she have driven someone to take such drastic measures? A hand absentmindedly rested on her bruised ribs as she let Warner’s anger and bitterness continue to bounce off the walls and echo in her ears. “You know,” She finally said. “A month ago, if you had said the universe sent you a sign, I would have laughed you out of the room. But given everything that has happened in the past month… I guess I’m a little more open to the idea. I still don’t understand it, nor do I think it is rooted in reality. But what I’ve come to learn, Warner, is that universe does give us signs. There are signs everywhere you look. Sometimes, they are more discreet and require a bit of digging. Others… are much more obvious.”

Warner rolled his eyes. “I think you’re starting to sound like your hippie brother.”

Jenny bit her tongue, trying not to lash out at him. Instead, she continued. “What I’m saying is… maybe it was gift from the universe that I came back in your life. Maybe… there was some sort of master plan at play. But maybe, the purpose behind it all, was not to get your revenge. Maybe you were supposed to make amends.”

He shrugged, hearing the metal on the handcuffs clink against the table. “Too late now.”

“We all make choices.” Jenny went on. “And… I am so sorry for making you think that this was your only choice. You should know that… I don’t hold any grudges against you. Truth be told, I don’t blame you one bit. But my hope for you, is that someday, you will find peace. That the universe will give you another sign and you will make a better choice. I hope that you will realize that your life hasn’t been one bad thing after another. For instance… Sammy and Dalton.”

Warner tapped his thumbs together solemnly. Neither one of them had visited him since his arrest. “Have you seen either of them lately?” He asked quietly.

A small ray of hope seemed shine into the small room. If Warner was still concerned about Sammy and Dalton, then maybe he hadn’t lost all his humanity. “They’re… adjusting. As I’m sure you can imagine. Sammy’s… not doing well.”

He nodded slowly, still staring at his thumbs. “I do regret getting Sammy and Dalton in the middle of all this. They’re good people.”

“Yeah, they are.”

“Do you… do you…” Warner cleared his throat, trying not to let his emotions bleed into his tone of voice. “Do you think they’ll ever understand?”

Jenny no longer felt anger. Only sympathy. Warner was still a human after all the evil he had done. She could see her old friend peek through his rough and older exterior just then. “They’ll need time. But… I think they’ll come around to it eventually. Lord knows, Sammy’s never been able to stay angry for longer than five minutes.” She allowed herself to smile, hoping that he would, too. But instead, he remained silent and solemn.

“So what now, Jenn?” He asked, finally meeting her gaze once again.

“I don’t have the answer to that.” Jenny shrugged. “Maybe we need the universe to give us another sign.” Slowly, she got up to leave, her hand reaching out to rest on the door handle. But she didn’t open the door. “Do you remember… junior year?” Jenny turned to face him once again. “When we hacked into the school’s computer system and sent everyone those emails Mr. Randall would send to his underage students?”

Warner looked at her curiously. “Yeah, why?”

“Do you remember me asking why we were doing it? That it seemed wrong?”

“If you’re trying to make a point, I don’t get it.”

“You told me something that day. And I never forgot it. You said that sometimes, doing a bad thing for a good reason was what we had to do. That doing nothing would have made things worse.”

He rolled his eyes. “Again, not seeing your point.”

“My point is, Warner, that was why I joined the FBI. Hacking was bad, or at least that was how it was explained to me by the boys in blue. But I remembered what you told me. I joined the Bureau because of you. And my life has never been the same. So thank you, Warner. I owe you a lot.”

Warner’s anger returned to him in a flash. “Yeah, and what do I get? Life in prison? Being forced to wear neon orange for the rest of my life?”

She shrugged. “The universe has given you a gift. Now, you have to decide what to do with it.” 

>>>

Mike held the report in his hands like it weighed forty pounds. For only being a few pieces of paper, it held a lot of emotional weight. After considering all his options, he was going to sign off on Paul’s report. Against his better judgement, he was going to sign off and say that he was the one who instigated everything and ended the Sarkissian case. It was a lie, of course. Paul Briggs had manufactured everything and made it look like Mike was the one who called the shots. But it’s what Mike had to do. At the end of the day, he couldn’t risk the house and disclose all of their dirty laundry to the Bureau. Every one of the housemates had been involved with or done something unsavory. Graceland would be burned if any of that came to light. And Jenny would never forgive him. But could he forgive himself?

He walked into Logan’s office at Headquarters but stopped in the doorway when he saw Logan sitting at his desk. That part wasn’t unusual. But across from him, sat Paul Briggs. Both men looked to him as if they were both expecting him. But Mike was clearly stunned to see Paul. He had been under the impression that this was just going to be between him and Logan. Why was Paul there?

“Agent Warren.” Logan greeted. “Have a seat. Agent Briggs was just about to tell me a story.”

“I don’t understand.” Mike couldn’t hide his confusion if he wanted to. But he still sat obediently, trying to get a read on Briggs’ face for some clue.

Paul’s face was usually unreadable. Ever since Mike had first arrived at Graceland, he had never been able to gauge what the man thought or felt at any given moment. Not unless he purposefully displayed his feelings. Which was a rare occasion. But now, his face was unreadable. “I am also not understanding the situation,” Logan said, staring intently at Briggs. “But perhaps now would be a good time to enlighten us, eh, Briggs?”

Briggs tapped his thumbs together nervously, his eyes watching the movement carefully. Leading up to this moment, he had contemplated taking off. Running as far away as he could from the Bureau, from Graceland, from everything. But… Jenny’s words rang through his ears like an echo. And as much as he hated to admit it, he was tired. “I recently wrote a report.” He started to explain, pointing to the papers in Mike’s hand. “And Agent Warren is ready to sign off on it. But… as Agent Logan loudly pointed out the other day… it’s all fabricated.”

“Briggs.” Mike could hardly believe his ears. Was he about to come clean?

“I got the gas canister from a prop house,” Briggs continued, unable to stop now. “I got Gusti Kadek Pendit to pick it up and I set up a line of communication on the dark web so Mike would find it. I involved myself with one of Soto Street’s girlfriends to insight beef between them and the Sarkissians. I asked Dale Jakes to skim money from his money laundering case, so I could take the money and run. I… I was the one who got Colby Moore killed. And only a couple of hours ago, I killed Ari Adamian, because I was afraid if he lived, he would tell my story and expose the truth.”

“Agent Briggs.” Logan sighed.

But still, Paul was not done. “As the room already knows, I killed Juan Badillo and I covered it up, so much as to plant one of his keys on Jangles’ infamous key ring. I am also Odin Rossi. I skimmed off some of the heroin busts I made and sold it on the streets. Last year, when my team was looking to nail Odin, I attacked Agent Warren, I lied, I stole evidence. And just recently, my own sister took a beating because she wanted to protect my identity as Odin. I am guilty of all these things. And whole laundry list of others.”

“That’s enough, Agent Briggs.” Logan ordered firmly, slamming a fist down on the desk. Mike barely heard the bang. He was too busy staring at his friend in shock. Never had he witnessed Paul Briggs being so forthcoming. “I am not a Catholic, nor am I an ordained minister. This ain’t a confessional. What exactly are you hoping to gain from disclosing these details?”

Briggs shrugged and looked at him in defeat. “Peace. Atonement. Take your pick.”

Logan had to chuckle. “Peace? Atonement? That’s it?”

The man nodded. “Well, as someone very close to me recently pointed out…” Paul gave a quick knowing glance to Mike, who was still in utter shock. “All of my sins, it’s cost me a lot. And nearly cost me everything that I care about recently. And the truth is… I’m tired. i am so tired of running and trying to think my way out of everything. I think it’s about time that I start my penance.”

“And why should I believe a word you said?” He questioned. “You wrote an entire report that completely contradicts your recent statement. What am I supposed to believe?”

He nodded slowly, but then shifted his focus to the stunned Mike. “That’s where Agent Michael Warren comes in.” Paul said solemnly. “Tell him, Mike.” Silently, he told him that it was okay. “Am I telling the truth?”

Mike tried to think of what angle he was working from. Paul Briggs always had an angle. There was always a hidden reason or plan behind nearly every action and word he ever said. But he couldn’t think of any. For the first time since knowing him, he had never seen Paul more human. Ever since his first arrival at Graceland, he had almost thought of Briggs as a wise older brother. Sure, he had done plenty of things that went against everything he believed in. But... for a while, it seemed as though Paul had thought himself to be some sort of god or an untouchable figure. Now, he just seemed like any other man. “It’s true.” Mike finally said, feeling the same solemnness that Paul felt. “All of it. Agent Briggs is telling the truth.” The two men exchanged a silent conversation, both apologizing and thanking each other.

“In that case…” Agent Logan rose from his chair and started to walk around his desk. “I think you know what comes next, Paul.”

Paul took a deep breath, feeling an enormous weight lifted off his shoulders. He stood up slowly. “Yeah, I do.”

Logan turned him around and placed handcuffs on Paul Briggs’ wrist, starting to read him his Miranda rights. The look on Paul’s face was now readable. He looked… content. Mike stood. “Wait.” His brain was barely able to process what was happening. “Paul, I…”

“It’s okay, Mike.” Paul assured him with a smile. “I’ve been running for so long. It’s about time we finally get justice, right? When you see my sister, you can tell her… she was right. About everything. She’ll love to hear that.” As Logan start to escort Paul out of the office, he stopped at the doorway to look back at Mike one last time. “And Mike… you are a damn good agent. I always knew that about you. And… I’m sorry. You deserve a lot more.”

As Mike watched his friend and former training officer being escorted away in handcuffs, he could only stand and stare in utter disbelief. A single tear fell from his eye.

>>6 months later>>

“God, why is this so hard?” Jenny exclaimed in frustration. Charlie was teaching her how to make an origami frog to send to Paul. Since Charlie’s father went to prison, she had sent him a frog every week to show him that she was thinking of him. Now that Paul was in prison, Jenny wanted to try to do it, too. But she was currently struggling.

Charlie chuckled. “It’s just paper, kiddo.”

“It’s not folding right, though.” She whined, as she crumpled it up in a ball and tossing it across the table. 

Paige couldn’t help but smile as she watched the drama unfold. “Oh, my god, you are such a baby.”

“I am not.” Jenny defended herself. “I just prefer to be a genius at everything. And when I’m not, I get furious.”

Johnny came over to where they sat around the dining room table at Graceland with an eager smile on his face. “How hard can it be?” He asked, taking a piece of paper from Charlie.

“Johnny, I swear to God.” Jenny shook her head at him. With all her frustration she felt, if he was going to prove that he was better at it than her, she was about to flip the table over.

Dale, unable to keep himself away, also took a seat next to Johnny. “Ten bucks says I can make a better frog than you, John-boy.”

“You are so on, bro!” Johnny smiled excitedly and got to work.

“Why is everything a competition with you two?” Paige rolled her eyes.

“Because they are trying to overcompensate for something.” Jenny teased. Charlie and Paige fell apart into giggle fits as Dale and Johnny started shouting defensively at her. “Oh, my god, you guys are so delicate and fragile.”

“Leave them alone, Jenn.” Charlie patted her arm, trying to indicate that she needed to back off a little.

“Yeah, back off, J.B.” Johnny spat. “And watch the master of paper make you the sexiest paper frog to ever exist.”

“Over my cold dead body.” Dale goaded as he set to work on his folding skills.

Jenny’s phone buzzed in her pocket, so she reached down to answer. A smile appeared on her face. After hitting the accept button, she told the table, “Okay, everybody, say hi to Paul.”

“Hi, Paul!” The group said to the phone she held up. Jenny continued to smile widely as she rose to take the phone call in the kitchen.

“Hey, big bro.” She greeted warmly.

“Hey, lil sis.” Paul’s voice came through. “How’s the house?”

“Well, currently, Johnny and Dale are having a competition to see who can make the sexiest paper frog.”

He couldn’t help but smile, imagining the scene in his mind. “So, normal then?” He joked.

“Just another day in paradise.” She said. “What about you? How’s life in the slammer?” It was still weird that her brother was in jail. Worrying was pretty much her normal state of being in general, but she still worried about him while he was in prison. But the judge had only sentenced him to ten years, with the possibility of parole in five, since he had turned himself in and was being cooperative. He could’ve had a much worse sentence, considering all the things he had done.

“In a word, heaven on Earth.” Paul teased again. “It’s not so bad. Been making lots of new friends. They seem to want my legal advice, if you can imagine that.”

“No, sir, I can’t.” Jenny laughed. “But I did put more money in your commissary, you know?”

“Yes, I know. But you realize that I don’t need that much stuff, right?” She seemed to keep depositing more money each day, despite his constant berating trying to get her to stop.

“I wanted to make sure my bro was taken care of. Sue me.” She hesitated before asking, “Really though… are you doing okay?”

He sighed. “Yeah, I actually am. Listen, Jenn… I don’t think I’ve ever thanked you for setting me straight. But you were right. This is… so much better. I’m… at peace, you know? Though I do miss Hector’s Tacos.”

Jenny smiled again. “Maybe I can bring you some tomorrow when I come for a visit.”

“Jenny!” Mike’s voice called from the other room. “Where you at?”

“One moment!” She hollered. “Hey, Paulie, I gotta go. The new guy’s here.”

“Oh, right. That’s today. Well, don’t torture the poor kid.”

“Why would you ever suggest such a thing?” She asked in a mocking tone. “I love you, Paulie.”

“Love you, too, sis.”

Jenny hung up the phone, wishing more than anything that Paul would hug her or ruffle her hair until she punched him. But she was happy that things had turned out for the best. “Jenny? Hurry up!” Mike’ voice called again.

“I’m coming!” She rolled her eyes and followed the sound of his voice. “Keep your shirt on. Or don’t and give us all a real show.” As she rounded the corner, she saw Mike standing next to the new transfer. He was a young-looking man. Red-hair, green eyes, and freckles. The kid looked like he had just graduated from high school. “Hi, you must be the new guy.” Jenny greeted and held out her hand for him to shake. “I’m Jenny.”

“John.” The guy replied as he shook her hand.

“Oo,” Jenny grimaced and looked back at Mike. “We kind of already have a Johnny in the house. And that will get way too confusing. Do you have a middle name?”

He shrugged. “Paul.”

Jenny and Mike exchanged looks again. “Last name?”

“Carter.”

“Pleased to meet you, Agent Carter.” Jenny shook his hand again. “So I assume Mikey here told you all of the house rules?” Mike had picked the kid up from the airport to bring him to the house. Jenny had offered to do it, but was told by Mike that he was afraid she would “come off too strong” and scare him away.

“Yes, ma’am.” Carter nodded like a soldier. “No civilians upstairs, no telling anyone what my job is, and-“

“And always sacrifice a virgin on the blood moon.” Jenny tested him out. The poor kid’s green eyes grew wide and looked to Mike for help.

“She’s kidding.” Mike assured him, throwing an arm around her shoulder. “The thing you need to know about Jenny is she’s kind of a-“

“A genius, I know.” She patted his chest. “Thank you for telling him.”

Carter raised his eyebrows at the show of affection between the two of them. “Oh, are you two…?”

“Wow, great deduction, Sherlock.” Jenny teased him. “How did you ever reach such a conclusion?”

Mike rolled his eyes with a smile. “Yes, to answer your question. We are together.”

The new guy looked almost confused. “How did that happen?”

“Well, that is a long story.” Mike replied, as Jenny couldn’t help but laugh.

“Very long story.” She nodded. "Full of twists and turns..."

“I’m sorry.” Carter shook his head, as if he remembered his manners. “I didn’t mean to pry.”

“No, you’ll learn the story soon enough.” Jenny winked at him. “After you put a few drinks in us.”

The new guy seemed to be like a fish out of water. He had not been expecting… well, he wasn’t exactly sure what he had been expecting. “So… are you FBI, too?” He asked Jenny.

“I am indeed. I am a technical analyst.”

“Oh, no.” Mike said with a fake serious face. “Not just a technical analyst, as I recall.”

She beamed up at him, recalling when they had first met. “Damn straight, I am _the_ technical analyst. Good memory, Agent Warren.”

“It’s a pleasure, ma’am.” Carter still looked like the shy kid on the first day of school. And he kept calling her “ma’am”, which only seemed to encourage her.

“You must be fresh from the Academy.” She commented, regarding his young facial features.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Let me guess… top of your class in Quantico? I’m also guessing…. 1700 on your practicals?” She nudged Mike knowingly.

Carter looked at her astonished. “1650, how did you know?”

Mike and Jenny hid their chuckles well. “I was pretty close, right?” She asked Mike.

“Pretty close.” He winked at her. “Told you before, Carter. She’s a genius.”

“Wow, that’s amazing.” The kid smiled.

Jenny flipped her hair dramatically. “I know.”

“So… why do you guys call this place ‘Graceland’?” Carter asked.

Jenny smiled and gestured over to Johnny. “That is an excellent story that my good boy, Johnny, would love to tell you.” She gently pushed him towards the living room. “Yo, Johnny, newbie wants to know how we got the name Graceland.”

“Don’t get him started.” Dale rolled his eyes, as Carter made his way over to the group in the living room. He still moved like the new kid in school who was being invited to sit with the popular kids at lunch.

Mike and Jenny lingered behind and watched him go with a smile. “Oh, he is going to be so fun much to torture.” Jenny said aloud.

“Jenny…” Mike warned with a smile.

“But he’s so green.” She whined, as he turned to face her. “He keeps calling me ‘ma’am'. I can practically smell the fresh paint on him. Can’t I just put him through the ringer just a little bit?” She looked up at him and pinched her fingers together when she said, “little bit”.

He grabbed her by her waist and pulled her close to him. “I don’t want you scaring my new trainee away.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck. Impulse took over yet again. “I’m not going to scare him. I’m just going to play with him a little.”

“I think I’m starting to get jealous, Mrs. Warren.” He teased her.

“Hey, it’s not Mrs., yet.” She reminded him, fiddling with the ring on her finger. “We still got a couple more months. Why not have some fun in the meantime?”

“Not if I have anything to say anything about it.” He pulled her in for a kiss. Even though a lot of time had passed since they had first met, they still felt the same amount of giddiness in their stomach whenever they were near each other. And after Jenny had fully recovered from her near-death experience with Langley, it only made sense to Mike to pop the question. He had tried to make it a private event, within the confines of his room, but he forgot for a moment how nosy the rest of the house was. When Jenny had said yes, Paige, Charlie, Dale, and Johnny flew open his door and started exchanging their congratulations. Even Dale had a few tears of joy in his eyes. 

“Hey, lovebirds!” Charlie shouted from the living room, pulling them apart. “We’re going to toast the new guy. So quit sucking face and get over here.”

“Alright, alright.” Mike conceded, taking one step towards the living room. But Jenny caught him by the hand before he got too far.

“Hey, have I told you that I loved you today?” She asked, looking into his damn puppy eyes.

He acted as though he had to think about it. “I’m not exactly sure.”

“Well, I do.” Jenny pulled him back to her. “Mr. Briggs.” They both paused at the sound of it and grimaced.

“No.”

“Yeah, hearing it out loud,” Jenny shook her head, but laughing. “I don’t like it. Let’s just stick with Agent Warren.”

“Okay,” He giggled as their lips met once again. _But am I going to take his name or keep my own?_ She thought. _You know what, I’ll worry about it later._

“Oh, my god.” They heard Johnny groan from the living room. “You ain’t going off to war. Let’s go!”

“Johnny, what is your problem?” Jenny snapped at him, finally pulling away from Mike. She went over to scold him some more and interact with her housemates. Mike lingered back, just for a moment. To watch the scene before him. Jenny joking and laughing, leaning on Paige, who tried not to laugh with her. Charlie scolding Dale and Johnny for bickering over their paper frogs. And even the new guy, who looked uncomfortable with all the high intensity of the group. But a small smile formed over the new guy’s face, as if to silently say that he knew that he was going to like it here.

Mike could only smile and think about how much his life had improved in only a short amount of time. He had once thought that coming to this place was a distraction. He wanted to climb to the top of the ladder and become director of the FBI, because that’s what he had always wanted. That had been his life's mission for so long. But meeting all the people, Johnny, Dale, Charlie, Paige, even Lauren and Donny in the beginning. He knew that it wasn’t a distraction after meeting Paul, and Jenny, of course. Mike no longer saw the house as a distraction or a house of lies and deception. Now, he saw it for what it really was. A home.

“Mikey, get over here.” Charlie waved him over to the table, snapping out of his reverie. He slid by Jenny’s side as she handed him a beer bottle. Their arms instinctively wrapping themselves around the other person’s waist, holding their bottle in the other hand. “Okay, everyone.” Charlie rose her bottle up in the air. “To the newbie.”

“No, no,” Mike interrupted. “To Graceland.”

“No, no, no.” Jenny also chimed in. “I got it.”

“Ugh, can we just drink already?” Johnny complained, as Dale punched him in the arm.

“Shut up, Johnny. God.” Jenny silenced him, holding up her beer bottle. “I just wanted to toast.... To family.”

The housemates clinked their bottles together and cheered, genuine smiles on everyone's faces. It was a perfectly content moment in Graceland. A rare moment of family. A family that was forever tied together and bonded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's it, my friends! This is the end of Jenny's story. I want to thank all of you who have read my little passion project and for leaving comments and kudos on any of the three installments of this series! This has been a great way for me to pass the time and escape the harsh realities of the world today. I hope my little stories have done the same for you! Hopefully, more stories will pop into my brain in the future, but for now, I must say adieu and thank you! Truly from the bottom of my heart, thank you!


End file.
